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Federico Fellini |
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Director / Screenwriter /
Actor |
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1920 - 1993 |
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Born January 20,
Rimini, Italy |
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Key
Production Countries: Italy, France |
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Key Genres:
Comedy Drama, Satire,
Ensemble Film,
Drama, Fantasy Comedy, Period Film, Showbiz Comedy, Comedy |
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Key
Collaborators: Nino
Rota (Composer), Tullio Pinelli
(Screenwriter), Ruggero Mastroianni (Editor), Ennio Flaiano (Screenwriter), Giuseppe Rotunno (Cinematographer),
Bernardino Zapponi (Screenwriter), Giuletta Masina (Leading Player), Brunello Rondi
(Screenwriter), Marcello Mastroianni (Leading Character Player), Danilo Donati (Production
Designer) |
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Highly Recommended: La
Strada (1954)*, La Dolce vita (1960)* |
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Recommended: The White Sheik (1951),
I Vitelloni (1953)*, Il Bidone (1955)*, 8½ (1963)* |
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Worth
a Look: Variety Lights (1950) [co-directed
by
Alberto Lattuada], Nights of Cabiria (1957)*, Juliet of the Spirits (1965)*,
Spirits of the Dead (1968) [co-directed by
Louis
Malle &
Roger Vadim], The Clowns (1971),
Amarcord
(1973)*, Orchestra Rehearsal (1979), City of Women (1981), And the Ship Sails On (1984),
Fellini's Intervista (1987) |
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Approach with Caution:
Fellini Satyricon (1969)*, Fellini's Roma (1972)*, The Voice of the Moon
(1990) |
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Duds: Fellini's
Casanova (1976)* |
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* Listed in TSPDT's
1,000 Greatest Films
section. |
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Links: [
Amazon
] [
IMDB ] [
TCMDB ] [
All-Movie
Guide ] [
Senses
of Cinema: Great Directors ] [
Film Reference
] [
Federico
Fellini.com ] [
Federico
Fellini: Images and Archetypes ] [
Internet
Fan Club ] [
Bright
Lights Film Journal Interview ]
In
Black & White: A Fellini Site ]
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Books: [
Federico Fellini: His Life and Work
] [
I,
Fellini ] [
Fellini
on Fellini ] [
The
Cinema of Federico Fellini ] [
Federico Fellini ] |
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"Although the
confessional element in Fellini's work was only unmistakable
from 8½ onward, we can now see that
no other Italian so absorbed himself in the act of being
an international film director. No other director - apart from
Orson Welles - so insisted on the
personal derivation of all his work, nor managed to make even
fragments of film or biographical incidents seem like parts of a
total oeuvre." -
David Thomson (The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, 2002) |
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"If this
Italian film-maker had been restrained by the Hollywood system,
one feels that his films might have pleased himself less, but
pleased his audiences more. No doubt about it, Fellini was a
brilliant creator of unforgettable images, the screen's nearest
equivalent to a modern Spanish painter somewhere between Dalí
and Miró. What might have happened if this talent had been
harnessed, channelled into a recognizable shape?" -
David
Quinlan (Quinlan's Film Directors, 1999) |
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"Whether
it was the world he loved or simply the fruits of his very
public fantasy is open to debate; whatever, while his work was
extremely uneven, he evidently saw himself as a great artist,
whereas a more accurate assessment might describe him as a
magnificent showman." -
Geoff
Andrew (The Director's Vision, 1999)
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"With roots in Italian neo-realism, Fellini has grown into a
brilliant stylist who depicts man's appetites with particular
vigor." -
William R. Meyer (The Film Buff's Catalog, 1978) |
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"It's absolutely
impossible to improvise. Making a movie is a mathematical
operation. It is like sending a missile to the moon. It isn't
improvised. It is too defined to be called improvisational, too
mechanical. Art is a scientific operation, so I can say that
what we usually call improvisation is in my case just having an
ear and eye for things that sometimes occur during the time we
are making the picture." -
Federico
Fellini (Directing the Film, 1976) |
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"Cinema is
an old whore, like circus and variety, who knows how to give
many kinds of pleasure. Besides, you can't teach old fleas new
dogs." - Federico Fellini |
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Please
note that the rating given for this director (see top-right) is based
only on the films we have seen (listed above). Films by this director
that we haven't seen include Ginger and Fred (1986). |
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8- |
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"Like
Dickens, Fellini was attracted to the theatrical. Both men
mined their childhood experiences; both craved an audience.
A hallmark of creativity in narrative fiction is the freedom
to embroider the past, constructing a scenario which may
have little to do with fact so long as it makes a good
story. Fellini was blatant in mining his past, so if
incidents which are presented as autobiography do not ring
true, the audience is entitled to feel cheated. Events need
to cohere in a convincing narrative which holds the interest
of the audience as much as the creator. Fellini’s diversions
verge on self-obsession."
-
Philip Gillett, Movie Greats: A
Critical Study of Classic Cinema |
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●
Top 250 Directors |
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100 Essential Directors (Pop
Matters) |
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The 9th Most
Influential Director of All Time (2002 MovieMaker
Poll) |
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One
of the twelve greatest living narrative filmmakers - Jonathan
Rosenbaum (Placing Movies: The Practice of Film
Criticism, 1993) |
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The Wild Bunch... 50 of the Movies' Maddest Visionaries |
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Robin Buss' Top 10 Directors |
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501 Movie Directors: A
Comprehensive Guide to the Greatest Filmmakers |
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See Also |
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●
Woody
Allen |
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Michelangelo
Antonioni |
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Vittorio
De Sica |
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Peter
Greenaway |
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Emir
Kusturica |
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George
Lucas |
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Pier
Paolo
Pasolini |
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Ken
Russell |
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Martin
Scorsese |
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Jacques
Tati |
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Luchino
Visconti |
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Wim
Wenders |
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Federico Fellini's Favourites |
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City Lights (1931)
Charles Chaplin,
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
Luis Buñuel,
Fellini's Intervista (1987)
Federico Fellini,
Frankenstein (1931)
James Whale,
Maciste All' Inferno (1926) Guido Brignone, Paisan (1946)
Roberto Rossellini,
Stagecoach (1939)
John Ford,
Totò e Peppino divisi a Berlino (1962) Giorgio Bianchi, 2001: A
Space Odyssey (1968)
Stanley Kubrick.
Source: Sight & Sound (1992) |
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