To Be Experienced and Not Watched: The Cinema of Federico Fellini Films
A Great Director Offers a Unique Viewing Experience
What is it about the films of Federico Fellini that make them so enjoyable to the fans that appreciate his work? Many will look for an overtly intellectual answer to this question or mire the answer in deep introspective forms of film criticism. In his lifetime, Fellini outright rejected any approach to examining his films in such a way. He considered such techniques to be overly analytical and thoroughly unnecessary.
Of course, many great works of cinema criticism have been written about the virtuoso director. While delving into critical analysis has its merits, it might simply be best to view the films experientially.
That means just watch the top Fellini films. Well, you don't "just watch" these intriguing works of cinematic art.
The Experiential Journey of Fellini
Fellini described his conception of a film as a "journey, adventure, and an odyssey." The words he used were/are apt ones. The narrative structure of numerous Fellini films unfolds in a strange narrative-but-not-a-narrative way. That, among other reasons, makes the auteur director's work so compelling.
Fellini films' style certainly did not follow the typical conventions, and his auteur fingerprints frequently reflected the presence of surrealism within realism. This might seem incomprehensible, but when you watch his films through his characters' eyes, you will notice their detached otherworldly witnessing to the events that unfold in front of them. While coherency can suffer at varying points of the typical Fellini narrative, the viewer can just enjoy the journey as it moves towards an eventual conclusion.
Welcome to the world of Italy's greatest director.
The Road Traveled By Fellini
Federico Fellini may very well be one of the greatest directors in world cinema. Sadly, he has also become one of the more forgotten directors. The notion that he would become forgotten would have been considered an outrageous notion during his height of success, which lasted from the 1950s to the early 1970s. Yet, outside of serious fans of foreign films, cinema history, and the legacy of classic Italian motion pictures, Fellini does not gain the wide fanfare, so many other directors do.
Fellini was not a director of Hollywood blockbusters. He filmed incredibly stylized personal films that were effective to those that found Fellini movies appealing. While many heard of Fellini during his heyday, many of those same filmgoers might never bought a ticket to one of his films.
Those wishing to enjoy something unique and different may want to invest some time watching a few of the great director's classic works. La Strada, La Dolce Vita, and 8 ½ are considered his most seminal works as well as the best Fellini films. The documentary I Clowns may be a better introduction to Fellini, although it is atypical of his work. Since it is less esoteric, Fellini's style can be enjoyed while watching a much more linear event.
In the Shadow of Neorealism
Contributing to Fellini's cinematic works' uniqueness was that the emerged in the shadow of Italian neorealism, a film movement rooted in depicting how the "common person" of Italy lived. This was a cinema-style that went to almost painful lengths to capture realism through sometimes incredibly slow pacing. It could be said that one film or art movement can beget another that builds on it or creates a movement far removed from it. Fellini borrowed aspects of neorealism to a strange degree but combined it with his unique sense of surrealism. Again, a Fellini film is more of an adventure that needs to be experienced. Through the experience, the audience will eventually (or hopefully) understand the actual narrative the film is presenting.
For those that are fans of Fellini movies, there is no reason to criticize the surrealist elements. It was the uniqueness of Fellini's work that draws so many to the films. Rather than worry about the narrative structure, it is best to concentrate on the themes which emerge through the presentation. It is the thematic elements that make his films most rewarding to view.
