Analysis of Fellini's 8 1/2

Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 is a film about a director's internal and external struggle to make his next film. The film shows the types of struggle through present day scenes and flashback or fantasy scenes. The way Fellini weaves back and forth through these scenes could leave an audience perplexed, but, he does it in a way that there is always a clear line between the director's real/uncomfortable world and his flashback/fantasy world. The literary value of Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 can be found through an analysis of story and writing throughout the film.

The film starts off with a suffocating man in his car who inexplicably begins to float up into the sky, only to be tugged back down abruptly. This is a great opener for this film, especially for an audience member who has never seen a Fellini film before - it gives a little taste of the uniqueness that's in store. The opening scene lets the audience know that there are no ground rules in the movie; the audience should keep their minds open for any possible scenario to happen.

The entire film takes on a formalistic narrative. Guido, the director, is supposed to be relaxing at a spa trying to get over his creative dry spell; instead, he is working on a movie, and bringing his wife and mistress to visit him while he networks with the other wealthy spa clients. Throughout the film, Guido's mind takes the audience to flashback sequences as well as fantasy sequences; he allows the viewer to join him in his creative process. The entire plot of the film is scrambled - viewers have no idea whether what they are watching is reality or Guido's flashback/fantasy world. It's difficult to decipher whether the main idea of the film is watching Guido work through his creative block, or whether it's just Fellini playing mind games with the audience; the design of the plot is heightened for the audience.

Fellini does a great job in using all of Guido's flashback's and fantasies to move the story along. The entire plot of the film is for Guido to get this movie under way; the way Fellini uses the the flashback/fantasy scenes to bring it all together is genius.

Fellini's 8 1/2 is not a very literary movie - it is full of scenes that involve conversations about a whole lot of nothing. It seems as if all of Guido's work companions and friends are just interested in drinking and finding out about the movie. Guido isn't the most innocent when it comes to all of this either; he is supposed to be relaxing at this spa, instead he is "working" on his film and schmoozing with the wealthy clientele.

There seems to be very little articulation from Guido and a lot of articulation from the rest of the characters. Guido only expresses what he is feeling through his fantasies and flashbacks; all the other characters, the potential actresses for the film for example, are all about finding out