Synopsis
A look at Fellini's creative process. In extensive interviews, Fellini talks a bit about his background and then discusses how he works and how he creates. Several actors, a producer, a writer, and a production manager talk about working with Fellini. Archive footage of Fellini and others on the set plus clips from his films provide commentary and illustration for the points interviewees make. Fellini is fully in charge; actors call themselves puppets. He dismisses improvisation and calls for "availability." His sets and his films create images that look like reality but are not; we see the differences and the results.
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Cast
- Roberto BenigniSelf - La Voce della Luna
- Luigi 'Titta' BenziSelf - Ami d'enfance
- Italo CalvinoSelf - Ecrivain (archive footage)
- Dante FerrettiSelf - Chef décorateur
- Rinaldo GelengSelf - Peintre
- Terence StampSelf - Toby Dammit
- Donald SutherlandSelf - Casanova
- Tullio PinelliSelf - Scénariste
- Giuseppe RotunnoSelf - Directeur de la photographie
- Daniel Toscan du PlantierSelf - Producteur
Recommendations
- 90
The New Republic
It is Fellini's face that is peculiarly welcome, the face that -- in a probably fantasizing but pertinent way -- endorses his films. - 75
New York Post
The newly found footage of Fellini and actor Marcello Mastroianni on the set of "La Dolce Vita" made me want to run out and see that wonderful film yet again. - 75
Boston Globe
Only loosely concerned with behind-the-scenes gossip and is squarely focused on the nature of Fellini's insatiability. - 70
Village Voice
How enlightening you find Damian Pettigrew's obsessive film depends on whether you're as adoring of Fellini as he was of himself; for the devoted, it's a gold mine. - 70
The New York Times
Mr. Pettigrew's affection for Fellini and his films animates this documentary and limits its appeal. - 70
TV Guide Magazine
General audiences will regret the absence of titles identifying various clips and interviewees, but Fellini fans will want to eat the whole thing up with a spoon. - 63
New York Daily News
It's the many thoughtful, eloquent interviews with Fellini himself that serve as the heart of the film. - 63
Philadelphia Inquirer
This portrait of the fabulist whose images are as haunting as those of Giorgio de Chirico is a disappointment, not to mention a squandered opportunity.
