How to Love: Introspection in Fellini’s 8 1/2 and Juliet of the Spirits
“La Dolce Vida was bad enough, 8 1/2 (1963) was worse, and by the time he made Juliet of the Spirits (1965), he was completely off the rails” film critic Roger Ebert wrote in his 2000 revisit and rave review of Federico Fellini’s 1963 opus 8 1/2. In the excerpt, Ebert speaks from the perspective of someone who would prefer Fellini to embrace realism rather than abandon it as he does throughout his filmography. Federico Fellini is a key figure of the art film era, a movement lasting approximately from 1951 to 1975, with two seminal films epitomizing his vision — 8 1/2 and 1965’s Giulietta degli spiriti, or Juliet of the Spirits. 8 1/2 is a hyper-meta account of a filmmaker experiencing director’s block, and features Fellini exercising heavy use of self-reflexivity. Juliet of the Spirits also employs several autobiographical aspects; however, the film is presented, more so than 8 1/2, as traditional fiction, creating a fascinating transition from one film to the next.
The art film era featured a less story driven ideology, rich with open narratives littered with ambiguities, and both 8 1/2 and Juliet of the Spirits fit that mold. The art film is concerned with exploring abstract ideas and philosophical concepts rather than traditional three-act plotlines.
Fellini uses 8 1/2 and Juliet to explore himself and his own philosophical being. 8 1/2 is self-referential from the beginning, the title itself alluding to the number of films in Fellini’s filmography by ‘63 — the half referring to Luci del varietà, a film he co-directed with Alberto Lattuada. 8 1/2 is not only meta in its reference to its creator, but goes to an extreme as being “a film about making a film, and the film being made is 8 1/2” (Sesonske). The narrative follows Guido, a celebrated Italian filmmaker suffering from crippling director’s block while he simultaneously copes with the troubles of his personal life, such as the disintegration of his marriage. To capture the chaos within Guido, Fellini incorporates surreal, high concept, and ambiguous dream sequences.
The first opens the film, in which Guido anxiously writhes around inside his vehicle, struggling to escape as hundreds of motionless, stoic strangers watch him. In reality based scenes, those around Guido fight for his attention and affection, begging for roles in his new science fiction film, demanding answers about the process, and requesting that he go as far as to direct their personal lives. The pressure, as well as his own disinterest, eventually consume Guido to a point in which he “retreats further and further into inaction and rejection of all the competing forces” (Bondanella 120). Continuing on the idea of ambiguities is how Fellini transitions into surreal sequences. In 8 1/2, the changes are often abrupt, requiring the viewer to change their point of view and catch up with the different reality, while the shifts early in Juliet could be considered more fluid. One of the earliest surreal sequences in Juliet takes place on a seemingly normal day at the beach. Juliet is relaxing on the beach — keeping an oddly sharp eye on her neighbor, Suzy — when she suddenly spots a man in a red bathrobe emerge from the ocean pulling a rope. However, the fluidity of these transitions is short lived, as the sequences begin and end in more complex fashions and become increasingly abstract. The surreal elements of each film can be seen as a sign of correlation because,
"Within these narrative structures, Guido and Juliet are also associated by the subjective techniques Fellini uses in both films, including such nonlinear material as memories, fantasies, apparitions, and dreams. It is often impossible to separate the fantasy elements from the real elements, especially as the two films progress and the unconscious perceptions of both characters are heightened” (141).
Further building on the art film’s M.O. of having less story-driven narratives, one can see Guido’s science fiction project as a McGuffin — serving only as a device to move the story forward. At no point in 8 1/2 does the viewer feel the need to learn more about the film in order to gain a better understanding of the narrative, and while the film may center around a man’s efforts to make a movie, it is not a film about a man making a movie. Guido himself seems to possess an awareness of this, and embraces it, refusing to answer simple questions about the film, even to his desperate actors eager to develop their characters. Guido seems averse to answering questions in general, often making abrupt, immediate topic changes upon confrontation. The only character he really elicits film details to is Claudia, which could either be out of respect or sexual desire. The film’s conflict does not pertain specifically to the production of this film; instead, it is more so an introspective psychological experience where the end result is Guido “[dying] symbolically to his old egoism and sterility and is reborn to a capacity to love and create” (120).
The art film is more concerned with exploring abstract ideas and philosophical concepts rather than following a traditional three-act plotline.
According to Carolyn Geduld, “Juliet of the Spirits is frequently interpreted as 8 1/2 from a female viewpoint,” a connection one can make as “The character of Juliet seems to correspond closely with that of Luisa” (137). Solidifying this connection is the fact that Fellini cast his real-life wife Giulietta Masina as Juliet. While Fellini’s intended to create a character in which Masina could play herself, it is likely a subconscious act of projecting himself onto her, and as a result, “her role felt like Fellini in drag” (Baxter). In the pre-production stages of Juliet of the Spirits, those involved began to raise questions regarding Juliet’s portrayal, and “while the character of [Juliet] was visibly Masina’s, the dreams [Fellini] had planned for her…were all taken intact from his diaries” (Baxter 199). Juliet lives the dull existence of a housewife with a neglectful and oppressive husband — which harks back to Guido’s treatment of his wife, Luisa. “Both [Juliet and Luisa] are relatively asexual,” writes Geduld, “cloaking their femininity with loose-fitting Oriental clothing,” which raises questions regarding Fellini’s treatment of women in his films. Fellini, to say the least, is aware of his shortcomings as a husband, writing husband characters — clearly representing himself — as physically and mentally disinterested in their respective wives, unfaithful, and more concerned with their own work and success. The “Harem Scene,” one of 8 1/2’s infamous sequences, revolves around Guido’s female muses revolting against him for his “age limit,” which peaks at 26 years. They attempt to defy him, deem him a “monster,” and demand compassion. Guido responds by whipping the women back into submission, pitting them against one another to vie for his attention. The most heart wrenching segment comes when the woman who began the brief revolt, the 26 year old Jacqueline, is given the opportunity to perform one final time, as she is “entitled to sing [her] last song.” Jacqueline attempts an up-tempo, “happy” tune, but fumbles several times, dropping her pearls. When Jacqueline realizes she is being ignored, she accepts her fate “upstairs” with the other women who have grown too old for Guido’s eye. Fellini could see this as the effect he has on women, beating down their will to a point of submission and creating a hollow shell in its place. Fellini even attempts to answer the questions pertaining to his own psyche, having Claudia — the only woman Guido shows any respect for — answer the question for him : “Because he doesn’t know how to love.”
Fellini was a rising star during the Italian Neorealism movement of the 1940s, and “began his career in the motion picture world in 1945, as a writer and assistant to the neorealist director Roberto Rossellini” (Sesonske). However, while Fellini learned from the Neorealists, he “never truly embraced Neorealism,” which quickly became apparent in his work (Baxter 95). Fellini had a personal definition of Neorealism, and believed “it should include “not just Neorealist truth but spiritual reality, metaphysical reality, all that there is within man,” and he exercises this creed through the abstraction and metaphysics of works such as 8 1/2 and Juliet of the Spirits (95). In the traditional approaches of Neorealism, the only ‘rule’ Fellini truly embraces is the absence of a contrived plot. Other aspects of Neorealism include the use of non-professional actors, the avoidance of ornamented camera word and editing techniques, and the depiction of ordinary folk. Fellini’s work aligns more with the French New Wave rather than Italian Neorealism. This is evident in his idea of the director as the auteur. Approximately half an hour into 8 1/2, the film’s executive producer explains his ignorance of the film’s details as he is “only the producer,” to which Guido agrees saying, “He mustn’t know a thing.” This is a radically different mindset from the Hollywood system of the 1930s and 40s, in which producers played a pivitol role in film production. One notable example is the collaborative relationship between David Selznick and Alfred Hitchcock. Selznick would read and workshop scripts, and explain to Hitchcock the treatment the screenplay was to receive. By Fellini’s time, the director had obtained true artistic freedom. Another French New Wave practice employed by Fellini is the use of the camera in a personal sense in order to artistically visualize ideas captained by Alexandre Astruc in 1948’s “Le Camera Stylo.” Astruc emphasized that “filmmakers should use cinema as writer’s and painters have used their mediums,” and this mindset is present in the execution and composition of Fellini’s work. Moreover, French New Wave directors are known for extensively studying film archives, finding inspiration in the early days of cinema. For example, the dancing Saraghina scene in which a young boy is reprimanded for associating with Saraghina — who represents sexual awakening and desire — is reminiscent of several scenes in Carl Dryer’s (Dryer himself an early archetype for the art film director) 1928 opus The Passion of Joan of Arc, in which Joan is interrogated by a collective of priests.
Fellini even attempts to answer the questions pertaining to his own psyche, having Claudia — the only woman Guido shows any respect for — answer the question for him — “Because he doesn’t know how to love.”
There are, however, visible differences in Fellini’s films and those of the French New Wave. The cinematography of 8 1/2 and Juliet of the Spirits uses sharp, stark imagery. The cinematography, handled by Gianni Di Vanazo in each film, is bold and uses very crisp and precise photography. This technique differs from two key films of the French New Wave — Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (1960) and Jacques Demy’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964). Breathless features what can nearly be described as “cool,” loose use of the camera as it breathes and moves with the characters, at times taking advantage of the rarely-well-used handheld camera. The photography in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg has a dreamlike quality to it, the colors vivid and romantic, catering to the film’s operatic universe. Fellini possesses an exceptional eye for shot composition, with a particular talent for capturing the poetic visual designs associated with the art film era. One of the key shots of 8 1/2 comes during the aforementioned opening scene, in which Guido ascends from his car and levitates above jammed traffic.
There’s an out of body sensation created by the shot, which Fellini further establishes by shooting actor Marcello Mastroianni from the back. Capturing a character from behind creates a sense of self-attachment between the viewer and the character, and is present in many preceding films, most notably in Orson Welles’ use of the journalist in Citizen Kane (1941). One of the most impressively composed shots in Juliet of the Spirits prefaces Juliet’s interaction with Bishma, in which Juliet sits on a coach in front of a red backdrop as a fan rotates back and forth to her left. Flat, painting-esque shots such as this give sequences the surreal, dreamlike atmosphere that Fellini aims to capture during interactions with the Hereafter.
The use of music in 8 1/2 and Juliet of the Spirits provides an interesting contrast. 8 1/2’s masterful use of silence attributes to the film’s isolated, aloof tone. While the film is not entirely without score, most of the non-dialogue registers as white noise, creating an empty, hollow mood. The film’s meta tendencies would be countered with a standard score. The most prevalent use of music in the film is Richard Wagner’s “Flight of the Valkyries,” which serves as a musical motif. “Flight of the Valkyries” booming sound greatly deviates from the minimalist tone present in the rest of the film, creating juxtaposition between sequences and inciting excitement within the viewer. Juliet of the Spirits features a more traditional film score by Nino Rota, who also curated the music for 8 1/2. The simple, upbeat score in Juliet of the Spirits becomes almost ironic as the film progresses. It is a near utopian sound that initially creates a sense of ease, but quickly becomes off-putting as the viewer observes Juliet’s bleak life under her husband.
Federico Fellini created “film[s] woven from the life of its author and possessing the disorder of his life,” using the cinematic medium as a means of digging himself from his own skull both psychologically and philosophically (Bondanella 135). His methods were the epitome of what characterize the art film era, creating poetic works subjective to each viewer. His work, however, was largely for his own benefit. Geduld, as she elaborates on Fellini failing to make another film capturing that anima, writes, “For Fellini, the past can no longer be called upon to heal the present in quite the same way as it could in 8 1/2 and Juliet of the Spirits” (151).
Works Cited
Baxter, John. Fellini. London: Fourth Estate. 1993. Print.
Baxter, John. “Juliet of the Spirits.” The Criterion Collection. 11 Mar 2002. Web. 1 May 2015.
Bondanella, Peter. Federico Fellini: Essays in Criticism. New York: Oxford University Press. 1978. Print.
Ebert, Roger. “8 ½” Roger Ebert. 28 May 2000. Web. 1 May 2015.
Sesonske, Alexander. “8 ½: A Film with Itself as Its Subject.” The Criterion Collection. 12 Jan 2010. Web. 1 May 2015.
Filmography
8 ½ (Federico Fellini, Italy, 1963). Rented from Amazon, screened on home television.
Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1960). In-class screening.
Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, USA, 1941). In-class screening.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, France, 1964). In class screening.
Juliet of the Spirits (Federico Fellini, Italy, 1965). Rented from Amazon, screened on home television.
The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Dryer, France, 1928). In-class screening.
