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Federico Fellini''s 8 1/2. (Home Video).-

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Produced by Angelo Rizzoli; created and directed by Federico Fellini; screenplay by Federico Fellini, Tullino Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano and Brunello Rondi; cinematography by Gianni di Venanzo; music by Nino Rota. Black and white, 138 mins, two DVD discs. Released by The Criterion Collection.

Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 is one of the early landmarks of postmodernism. If the myth is to be believed, Fellini had signed with producer Angelo Rizzoli to direct something like a sequel to his enormously successful La Dolce Vita. Actors were hired. The crew was ready. And a large set had been built: a rocket launching pad. But where was the story? In early drafts of the scenario, Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni) had been a writer. Only when Fellini turned the character into a film director did the elements fall into place. This would be a film about director's block: about not being able to make a film. About what the scholars call 'the creative process.' Weaving together fantasy, flashback, fear, and celebration--all orchestrated, as usual, by Nino Rota--he achieved an overwhelming international success.

8 1/2 remains the key Fellini movie because it is...