FAVORITE FEDERICO FELLINI FILM

This week is the master auteur Federico Fellini. What do you consider his best film? What do you consider your favorite?

I believe that his best is “8 1/2.” The apotheosis of his canon, this film embodies everything about Fellini, his virtues as a filmmaker and his flaws as a human being. An indelible work to the artform of the cinema. As for my personal favorite, it is too hard to decide on one certain movie, but here is a list of some of his greatest works. A few even as great as “8 1/2” itself.

“I Vitelloni” (1953)
“La Strada” (1954)
“Nights of Cabiria” (1957)
“La Dolce Vita” (1960)
“Juliet of the Spirits” (1965)
“Amarcord” (1974)

I vitelloni

“8 1/2” is his best, closely followed by “La Dolce Vita,” “Toby Dammit,” and “Nights of Cabiria”

8 1/2 is his best by far for me.

From what I’ve seen (about 5 or 6) I’m much more partial to La Strada followed by La Dolce Vita.

his best though is 8 1/2, i agree there.

Roma is a personal favorite for me followed by I Vitelloni (it’s a more modest Fellini but I think it’s one of his best stories). However, if you were to ask me, I’d probably say La Dolce Vita or 8 1/2 is the masterwork.

Roma is a personal favorite for me followed by I Vitelloni (it’s a more modest Fellini but I think it’s one of his best stories). However, if you were to ask me, I’d probably say La Dolce Vita or 8 1/2 is the masterwork.

I loved 8 1/2 and La Strada, but La Dolce Vita is still his best, as far as I’ve seen. Its sweeping scope and pure ambition put it above the other two… Guido was fascinating as a tangle of complexities and a parallel to the real-life filmmaker, but for me, such meta-writing can’t compete with the insight and intimacy we get with Marcello during La Dolce Vita. By the end of the film, I felt like I knew about him completely, and wished him well, despite my occasional frustration with him. I knew his certainties, his insecurities, his ambivalences, and his relationship habits. And on top of this, his character was offset by the whole range of iconic performances… Sylvia, Marcello’s father, the bacchanalian crowds and the Italian debutantes… the film was such a journey. Definitely a testament to Fellini’s genius.

Actually I take back what I said. Like most great directors, he has several masterpieces which all touch on different subjects. La Dolce Vita…. 8 1/2…. I Vitelloni… Roma…. Juliet of the Spirits…. gah, the list just keeps going…

in my humble opinion! ;)

in my humble opinion! ;)

Amarcord for me

“La Strada” is my favorite from what I’ve seen by him. Mindblowing performances by Anthony Quinn and Giulietta Masina, a partuclar favorite scene is when he is teaching her how to introduce him with the drum…

La Dolce Vita and La Strada are my favorites

Nights of Cabiria and La Dolce Vita are my favorites.

I really didn’t like 8 1/2 compared to his other work. I thought the concept was wonderful, but I felt like it was always looking over its shoulder at La Dolce Vita for reassurance.

I didn’t really enjoy Juliet of the Spirits in the moment, but I think about it a lot and keep wanting to revisit it.

Also City of Women needs more love. <3

My favorites are 8 1/2 and Amarcord. Both are rich and beautiful films.

Amarcord is just a beautifully visual depiction of a year in the life of an Italian village, and I love stories that present a circle of life, happily ending where it began, which here is with the appearance of the puffballs. It’s always a pleasure to watch this film and its multitude of colorful characters.

8 1/2 was my first experience with Fellini and the Criterion Collection. It was my gateway into a world of cinema I was previously ignorant of (stemming beyond Criterion, too). It is the one I’ve re-watched the most, and always find joy in it: “Sgulp!”, la Saraghina, Guido dancing down the hall, his self-inflicted anguish and torment, “asa nisia masa,” and oh so much more. I was living in Chicago until a few weeks ago, and one of the last things I did before blowing out of town was to finally see 8 1/2 on the silver screen. What a marvelous experience, and a wonderful way to say goodbye to my favorite movie house in my favorite town.

I have a few other Fellini flicks on DVD that I need to revisit, especially after reading some of the comments here. For some reason I am not all that fond of Giulietta Masina and find it difficult to watch movies she’s in because I find her a distraction. I think I just need to put that aside and look forward to giving those films another shot.

Got to go with La Dolce Vita, it was one of the founding films of my cinema obsession. It’s one of the few films I consider perfect (no, there aren’t too many party scenes!)

My favorites are: I Vitelloni, Nights of Cabiria and La Dolce Vita. But my personal favorite of all time is La Strada.

La Dolce Vita is exceptionally important in that Fellini was RIGHT THERE at the birth of modern celebriculture durring the moment Italians refer to as “Il Boom.” As trhe 50’s came to and end the damage of WWII was finally over and all Ital was alive again. Smart Americans began to realize what a vacation heaven it was (Minghella’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley” deals with this directly) and Holywood began filming there. As a reuslt teh tabloid press had a “scandal” bonanza.

Anita Eckberg’s iconic appearance in the film was a directly result of tangles she and her boyfriend du jour Anthony Steele had with photographers. It was Fellini, in this film that gave thme their name via Marcello’s comrade-in-arms Paparazzo (played by Walter Santezzo) The name was derived from that of a Fellini childhood friend. It fit onomotopeotically in that it mimicks the sound of flashbulbs. It also evokes Pappageno of “The Magic Flute” – a half-man, half-bird.

What Fellini shows here is a kinder gentler version of “Sweet Smell of Success.”

I thought Masina was far better in Nights Of Cabiria personally, but hey, we don’t need to have this argument again.

i’m more interested in Fellini’s underrated films right now, like As The Ship Sails On and City Of Women.

Amarcord or Nights of Cabiria…Or 8 1/2…..Or La Strada…