Seen before: No
So here we go. Starting off with what is perhaps regarded critically as one of the best films ever by one of the world's greatest ever directors. Start as you mean to go on I guess. Or something like that.
---Plot Summary---
The central character Guido (Marcello Mastroianni) is essentially a semi-autobiographical version of the director himself, who just so happens to be making a film that in itself is semi-autobiographical. Confused? I was initially too. It's really a film within a film. Guido has lost all inspiration and vision for his new film, and as a result wrestles with memories and dreams of people (mostly women) he has met and moments he has spent in the past, rather than deal with the intense pressure being put on him by his producer, screenwriter and actors.
---Review---
I had been meaning to watch this film for a while, and even attempted to once last year but fell asleep during it (purely due to tiredness!). It's certainly a complex, original, and intriguing portrayal of the severe pressure put upon film-makers to deliver something successful, but throughout we are aware of how much Guido wants it to remain his own vision (although he never seems quite sure what that might be).
The film opens with what appears to be a dream sequence in which Guido finds himself trapped, in more than one sense of the word. He is trapped in traffic, and as we are shown the motionless people in their motionless vehicles, Guido begins to suffocate in his own car. He tries to escape but is unable to, and everyone around him remains motionless. This feeling of being trapped is an ongoing theme throughout the film, as Guido becomes trapped by the women he loves and the questions being constantly asked of him by people involved with his film.
I was captivated from start to finish, if only to find out whether Guido would actually go ahead with his film. Along the way we meet some fascinating and beautiful women (Claudia Cardinale, Barbara Steele and Sandra Milo amongst them) who Guido has either been with or fantasizes about being with. There is a glorious scene where, within Guido's mind, he lives in a house with all the women he lusts after, where he is fed, bathed and dressed by them (if only), and once they get too old they are banished 'upstairs'. One of the women who is banished such incites a revolt, and Guido then attempts to control the situation by whipping those who are revolting. Its a complex scenario during which his wife remains the voice of reason (perhaps implying that even though he may not want to admit, she is the one he should be with, as she treats him with disdain yet still looks after him).
The ending is again obscure and open to interpretation which I'm not going to go into here, but it remains a satisfying ending nonetheless. The one major criticism I have of this film is that the lighting was very poor throughout the film, especially when indoors, but the acting, dialogue and camerawork was superb.
---Rating---
8/10
(possibly 8½...? No, I'll stick with 8)
Tomorrow: 1984 (Michael Radford, 1984)
So here we go. Starting off with what is perhaps regarded critically as one of the best films ever by one of the world's greatest ever directors. Start as you mean to go on I guess. Or something like that.
---Plot Summary---
The central character Guido (Marcello Mastroianni) is essentially a semi-autobiographical version of the director himself, who just so happens to be making a film that in itself is semi-autobiographical. Confused? I was initially too. It's really a film within a film. Guido has lost all inspiration and vision for his new film, and as a result wrestles with memories and dreams of people (mostly women) he has met and moments he has spent in the past, rather than deal with the intense pressure being put on him by his producer, screenwriter and actors.
---Review---
I had been meaning to watch this film for a while, and even attempted to once last year but fell asleep during it (purely due to tiredness!). It's certainly a complex, original, and intriguing portrayal of the severe pressure put upon film-makers to deliver something successful, but throughout we are aware of how much Guido wants it to remain his own vision (although he never seems quite sure what that might be).
The film opens with what appears to be a dream sequence in which Guido finds himself trapped, in more than one sense of the word. He is trapped in traffic, and as we are shown the motionless people in their motionless vehicles, Guido begins to suffocate in his own car. He tries to escape but is unable to, and everyone around him remains motionless. This feeling of being trapped is an ongoing theme throughout the film, as Guido becomes trapped by the women he loves and the questions being constantly asked of him by people involved with his film.
I was captivated from start to finish, if only to find out whether Guido would actually go ahead with his film. Along the way we meet some fascinating and beautiful women (Claudia Cardinale, Barbara Steele and Sandra Milo amongst them) who Guido has either been with or fantasizes about being with. There is a glorious scene where, within Guido's mind, he lives in a house with all the women he lusts after, where he is fed, bathed and dressed by them (if only), and once they get too old they are banished 'upstairs'. One of the women who is banished such incites a revolt, and Guido then attempts to control the situation by whipping those who are revolting. Its a complex scenario during which his wife remains the voice of reason (perhaps implying that even though he may not want to admit, she is the one he should be with, as she treats him with disdain yet still looks after him).
The ending is again obscure and open to interpretation which I'm not going to go into here, but it remains a satisfying ending nonetheless. The one major criticism I have of this film is that the lighting was very poor throughout the film, especially when indoors, but the acting, dialogue and camerawork was superb.
---Rating---
8/10
(possibly 8½...? No, I'll stick with 8)
Tomorrow: 1984 (Michael Radford, 1984)
No comments:
Post a Comment