8½

"You knew it had to happen..." ▲ ♪

This film has found its way onto the shelves of every filmmaker wannabe that ever existed on the planet. In fact, the existence of this film on someone's shelf is a strong indicator that they aspire to film greatness or at least did at one time. I don't yet own this film, but I am sorry to say that someday I probably will, because it is the talisman that filmmakers carry with them. It is the patron saint of filmmaking, it is the lucky charm of cinematography, the Gospel of Film according to saint Fellini. And we are all believers.

In actual fact it is just a film about making films, or about being a filmmaker or rather about being Frederico Fellini. Or rather it is a celebration of the complexity of life and film and the joy we get from this maddening art.

Favorite moments: Floating like a kite, Wagner, fantasies, screening room.