Federico Fellini’s films are known for bypassing traditional, objective realism for a more subjective form of realism. The reality of the mind and what goes on inside it is much more important. Relying on memories, dreams, fantasies and fears, Fellini’s films offer biographical insight into the director’s mind. Perhaps the most famous and most illustrative example of this is 8 ½.
Fellini establishes subjective realism in the opening sequence, which is almost certainly one of Guido Anselmi’s dreams. The film opens in a crowded tunnel, but rather than filling the soundtrack with the sounds of the cars and people inside the tunnel, there is no sound. The effect is unsettling, as is the following scene, in which Guido begins suffocating inside of his car and cannot get out. The first sounds heard are Guido’s desperate gasps for breath. The scene is intercut with several shots of fellow travelers staring at Guido, and one shot of a woman being felt up by an older man. Even under duress, Guido’s thoughts turn to beautiful women and sex. Then suddenly and inexplicably, Guido is floating across the tops of the cars, arms outstretched. The camera movements add to the sensation of weightlessness. Next Fellini transports the audience to a beach, the site of some of Guido’s childhood memories which will be visited later in the film. Here Guido floats above the sea before he is pulled down to the water (and perhaps reality too – in the next scene he awakes from a fever dream). The scene could be a metaphor for the fact that critics and producers hold a controlling influence over Guido’s life, and he is not completely free. Though the opening sequence is dense, it is full of fragmented ideas to be explored and developed later in the film.
One of these ideas is the shame and fear resulting from a strict Catholic upbringing. Guido meets with the Cardinal to discuss a scene in his next film in which his main character will meet with a Cardinal in search of religious guidance. This is also one of the reasons Guido repeatedly meets with the Cardinal, he is trying to reconcile his past Catholic guilt with hopes that religion can give him solidarity or happiness. Instead, during the meeting, Guido is distracted by a large woman descending a hill in the distance. The woman triggers a childhood memory of shame and sexual awakening from Guido’s own life. The scene that follows is an example of an associational flashback much like the ones that dominate Alain Resnais’ Hiroshima mon amour.
One of these ideas is the shame and fear resulting from a strict Catholic upbringing. Guido meets with the Cardinal to discuss a scene in his next film in which his main character will meet with a Cardinal in search of religious guidance. This is also one of the reasons Guido repeatedly meets with the Cardinal, he is trying to reconcile his past Catholic guilt with hopes that religion can give him solidarity or happiness. Instead, during the meeting, Guido is distracted by a large woman descending a hill in the distance. The woman triggers a childhood memory of shame and sexual awakening from Guido’s own life. The scene that follows is an example of an associational flashback much like the ones that dominate Alain Resnais’ Hiroshima mon amour.
A young Guido sneaks away with his friends to the beach, where they pay a prostitute named Saraghina to dance for them. She begins to dance with Guido just as the headmaster arrives. The headmaster chases Guido until he is caught in a manner evoking slapstick comedy. Guido is brought back to school where he is first disciplined in front of his mother, and then forced to wear a dunce cap in front of his classmates. Despite all of this, the memory ends with Guido returning to the beach to greet Saraghina once again.
The sequence is most likely not a carbon copy of what occurred when Guido was a boy. Rather, the sequence represents how Guido remembers that day and the feelings of shame and guilt associated with the memory. The dancing music, which starts as soon as Saraghina receives payment, is not diegetic to the scene on the beach (where would the music even be coming from?) but it is diegetic to the memory. Fellini uses an unusual frame rate during the chase scene to further dissociate the sequence from reality. Additionally, some of the dialogue during Guido’s punishment that was only said once (or perhaps never at all) is repeated: “Shame on you”; “It’s a mortal sin.” These techniques evoke the pressures he felt by a Catholic upbringing to quell his young sexuality. Because he was taught that an overt sexuality was bad, he associates much of the memory of Saraghina with shame. Interestingly, Guido returns to Saraghina at the end of the sequence. The most likely reason he returns is to visit someone else who feels shame, but perhaps a more underlying reason is that he is struggling to control his sexuality. And as an adult, this struggle continues with his treatment of women.
The sequence is most likely not a carbon copy of what occurred when Guido was a boy. Rather, the sequence represents how Guido remembers that day and the feelings of shame and guilt associated with the memory. The dancing music, which starts as soon as Saraghina receives payment, is not diegetic to the scene on the beach (where would the music even be coming from?) but it is diegetic to the memory. Fellini uses an unusual frame rate during the chase scene to further dissociate the sequence from reality. Additionally, some of the dialogue during Guido’s punishment that was only said once (or perhaps never at all) is repeated: “Shame on you”; “It’s a mortal sin.” These techniques evoke the pressures he felt by a Catholic upbringing to quell his young sexuality. Because he was taught that an overt sexuality was bad, he associates much of the memory of Saraghina with shame. Interestingly, Guido returns to Saraghina at the end of the sequence. The most likely reason he returns is to visit someone else who feels shame, but perhaps a more underlying reason is that he is struggling to control his sexuality. And as an adult, this struggle continues with his treatment of women.
Guido fares no better in his second visit to the Cardinal. He is at a crowded bathhouse when he receives the Cardinal’s call. With just a bathrobe separating his naked body from the throngs of people around him, Guido is already exposed and vulnerable. When Guido reaches the Cardinal and tells him he is unhappy, the Cardinal responds, “Why should you be happy? That is not your task in life. Who said you were put on this Earth to be happy?” The Cardinal follows this up by repeating the line, “There is no salvation outside the Church.” The scene expresses Guido’s fears and doubts of the Catholic Church. It appears that they can offer him no guidance in his time of need. Once again, the scene does not belong to the domain of the real – the fluid camera, the pervasive steam, and the Cardinal’s adverse response all point to Guido’s own uncertainty regarding the Church and the possibility that the scene is a dream or hallucination.
Another distraction that Guido is consistently preoccupied with is the fact that he surrounds himself with beautiful women. Guido strings along a striking French actress without even giving her lines, and heavily focuses his efforts on casting the gorgeous Claudia in his film. He is also quick to lose focus around the beautiful women accompanying his friends and co-workers. Whether it’s Gloria, the fiancée of his friend Mario, or the young (and verbally abused) girlfriend of his producer, Guido’s attention (and Fellini’s as well) is easily diverted around them. And there is of course Guido’s wife Luisa, who he does not get along with, and his mistress Carla, who he is only interested in carnally.
Guido’s desires, fantasies and feelings about all of these women culminate in the “Harem sequence” about two-thirds into the film. The morning following a fight with Luisa, Guido sits at an outdoor café with her and her friend Rossella when Carla arrives. At first visibly stressed, Guido placates himself with a daydream (or perhaps sexual fantasy) of Luisa and Carla not only getting along, but also dancing. The brief scene is most certainly fantasy, because Rossella has disappeared and all the remaining characters are abnormally ebullient. This scene fades into the more extravagant and chauvinistic “Harem fantasy.”
Another distraction that Guido is consistently preoccupied with is the fact that he surrounds himself with beautiful women. Guido strings along a striking French actress without even giving her lines, and heavily focuses his efforts on casting the gorgeous Claudia in his film. He is also quick to lose focus around the beautiful women accompanying his friends and co-workers. Whether it’s Gloria, the fiancée of his friend Mario, or the young (and verbally abused) girlfriend of his producer, Guido’s attention (and Fellini’s as well) is easily diverted around them. And there is of course Guido’s wife Luisa, who he does not get along with, and his mistress Carla, who he is only interested in carnally.
Guido’s desires, fantasies and feelings about all of these women culminate in the “Harem sequence” about two-thirds into the film. The morning following a fight with Luisa, Guido sits at an outdoor café with her and her friend Rossella when Carla arrives. At first visibly stressed, Guido placates himself with a daydream (or perhaps sexual fantasy) of Luisa and Carla not only getting along, but also dancing. The brief scene is most certainly fantasy, because Rossella has disappeared and all the remaining characters are abnormally ebullient. This scene fades into the more extravagant and chauvinistic “Harem fantasy.”
The sequence starts with Guido arriving home where he is married to Luisa and living with many of the women encountered earlier in the film, including Carla, Gloria, the French actress, Rossella and even Saraghina. His sister-in-law does not hate him, and there is even a new “exotic” girl from Hawaii, eager to gain acceptance with her dancing. After a joyous scene in which several of the women bathe him (recalling an earlier scene in which his mother and grandmother do the same), the mood changes when Jacqueline, one of Guido’s lovers, must be banished upstairs. She has matured past the age of desirability, and her complaints and refusal to comply result in a rebellion among all of the women. Just as the women are sent into their defiant frenzy, Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” begins to play, increasing the theatricality of the scene. Things get more bizarre when Guido resorts to using his whip to tame the women. Throughout this all, Luisa stays calm and even says she agrees with Guido’s rule of exiling the older women upstairs. Eventually the riot calms and order is restored, with the women applauding Guido.
Following a farewell performance by Jacqueline, the house sits down to dinner. After the women express remorse for upsetting Guido, Luisa (dressed as a housewife, unlike the rest of the women) gets up from the table and begins performing chores. As she does, she expresses her love and devotion to Guido as well as her willingness to be submissive. Despite the overt sexism in the scene, there is evidence that Guido still loves Luisa. During her monologue, the camera remains relatively motionless (contrary to the rest of the sequence and most of the rest of the film). For once, Guido’s attention seems undivided. Though he lives with all of these women, it might be the case that Luisa is the only one he cares about. The sequence fades back into reality with Guido muttering, “If you could be patient with me a little longer, Luisa.” As a whole, the sequence conveys a range of emotions felt by Guido. It begins with anxiety involving his wife and mistress meeting, but turns into a sexual fantasy in which all of the women in his life exist solely for his pleasure and approval. The revolt depicts the fear of losing all of the women, and especially Luisa, whom he feels could leave him for Enrico. With Luisa’s monologue, Guido resolves the situation by assuring himself it will not happen.
The use of dream and fantasy realities in the narrative results in a deeply personal film. Although many characters are one-dimensional or seem like caricatures, at the end of the film the viewer has been granted access directly into Guido’s mind. The truth of Guido’s memories, dreams, fantasies and fears is more important to Fellini than any objective realism.
The use of dream and fantasy realities in the narrative results in a deeply personal film. Although many characters are one-dimensional or seem like caricatures, at the end of the film the viewer has been granted access directly into Guido’s mind. The truth of Guido’s memories, dreams, fantasies and fears is more important to Fellini than any objective realism.
RSS Feed