Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

8½ Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 17, 2009

Federico Fellini's "8 ½" (1963) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. Amongst the supplemental features on the disc are: an introduction by director Terry Gilliam; interviews with Lina Wertmuller, cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, and actress Sandra Milo; the documentary "Fellini: A Director's notebook"; Vassili Silovic's film "Nino Rota: Between Cinema and Concert"; an audio commentary with with Fellini friend and documentarian Gideon Bachmann and NYU film professor Antonio Monda; and more. A fully illustrated 30-page booklet has been included as well. With optional English subtitles. Region-A "locked".

The Director

8 ½ is undoubtedly Federico Fellini’s most personal film. It is about a well-known Italian director, Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroainni, La Dolce Vita), who arrives at a fashionable sanatorium where he hopes to regain his physical strength and creative powers. His next film is due very soon, and producers, actors and technical staff are already asking questions for which the director has no answers.

But the more Anselmi attempts to hide the fact that he does not know what his film would look like, the more he begins to realize that perhaps the recovery he hopes for would never materialize. What he experiences isn’t a temporary crisis, but the end -- he has shown the world everything he wanted, everything he could.

Nevertheless, everyone around Anselmi interprets his obvious struggle to provide clear answers to questions about his next film as part of an act. Anselmi is an eccentric man, and they know that very soon he will shoot a brilliant film, one that would be praised and remembered for years to come. It is just a matter of time before Anselmi reveals what this brilliant film will be about... is it not, maestro?

It is a well-documented fact that when Fellini began working on 8 ½ he had no idea what it would be about. Initially, Anselmi was to be a famous writer, not a film director, but Fellini changed his mind, and sometime after that, while still contemplating different ideas, decided to model him after his image.

Like most of the films Fellini directed, 8 ½ welcomes its audience into a world where fantasy and reality are closely intertwined, effortlessly blending the serious and the bizarre, the hilarious and the shocking. It is true that the messaging of 8 ½ is not as direct as that of some of Fellini’s earlier films, which makes it difficult to deconstruct, but it is defined by the same unmissable visual brilliance. For this reason, viewing 8 ½, or any Fellini film, whether one fully comprehends it or not, is always a special experience.

In an archival interview included on this release, Lina Wertmuller, whom Fellini invited to assist him on 8 ½, discusses the important role women had in the director's life. Wertmuller clarifies why Fellini frequently treated them as objects in his films, and why he feared and admired them at the same time. Apparently, Fellini's dreams were inspired by them, and so were his films.

Unsurprisingly, in 8 ½ Anselmi is constantly surrounded by women, too. He fantasizes about the moment when the mysterious actress Claudia (Claudia Cardinale, Girl with a Suitcase) would arrive and help him overcome his creative problems. She is the key to all of his struggles, not the two women that already share him -- his wife, Luisa (Anouk Aimée, A Man and a Woman), and mistress, Carla (Sandra Milo, The Visit).

An old proverb says the first step towards greatness is to be honest. During the years, many directors have claimed that their work is revealing of their feelings, thoughts and emotions. However, only a few have been as honest and revealed as much as Fellini does in 8 ½ . Indeed, this film is the personal confession of a director who has realized that the finest story he could ever tell is his own.

In 1964, 8 ½ won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. During the same year, it also won seven Silver Ribbon Awards, including Best Director and Best Cinematography (Gianni Di Venanzo), granted by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists.

8½ Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Federico Fellini's 8 ½ arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

In the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release, Criterion state the following: "This new high-definition transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a restored 35mm fine-grain master positive made from the original negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS system and Pixel Farm's PFClean system, while Digital Vision's DVNR system was used for small dirt, grain, and noise reduction."

Fine object detail, contrast and clarity have all benefited tremendously from the upgrade to 1080p. Many of the close-ups throughout the film are substantially better looking when compared to Criterion's DVD release of Fellini's film. The color-scheme is also notably stronger; the blacks are rich and well saturated while the whites look natural. Generally speaking, the film's grain structure is intact; some mild noise corrections, however, have been applied. Aside from a few unstable frame transitions, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. Finally, large scratches, debris, splices, or dirt are not visible (I noticed only one cut that appeared very early into the film, right before Marcello gets out of his car and then exits the tunnel - however, I assume, that it must have been impossible to remove it completely). (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

8½ Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: Italian LPCM 1.0. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

According to the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc, the uncompressed soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from various 35mm optical positives and negatives. Nevertheless, I think that it is very well balanced - the dialog is exceptionally easy to follow and Nino Rota's lovely score surprisingly crisp. Those of you who have never seen Fellini's 8 ½ before will probably notice that occasionally there are some minor lip-sync issues, but this is something that was common for Italian films that were made at the time. Finally, I did not hear any overly disturbing pops, cracks, or hissings to report in this review.

8½ Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this is the same audio commentary that was included on Criterion's DVD release of Fellini's 8 ½. It combines an audio essay, read by actress Tanya Zaicon, and interviews with Fellini friend and documentarian Gideon Bachmann and NYU film professor Antonio Monda. It was recorded in New York and Berlin in 2001.

• Introduction - presented here is an archival introduction by director Terry Gilliam, who quickly explains what makes 8 ½ such an important film and the impact it had on his career. In English, not subtitled. (8 min).

• The Last Sequence - Federico Fellini originally intended for 8 ½ to end with a surreal sequence in a train car -- sets were built and footage was shot, but all that remains are still photographs. From this starting point, Mario Sesti's fifty-two-minute documentary details the story of the original ending and how it came to be replaced. In Italian, with English subtitles. (51 min).

• Nino Rota: Between Cinema and Concert - this archival documentary focuses on Nino Rota's work and his collaborations with Federico Fellini. Produced by Vassili Silovic, the documentary initially appeared on Criterion's DVD release of 8 ½. In German, with optional English subtitles. (48 min).

• Sandra Milo - in this archival program, actress Sandra Milo remembers her initial encounter with Federico Fellini and the shooting of 8 ½. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (27 min).

• Lina Wertmuller - in this archival program, Lina Wertmuller recalls her collaboration with Federico Fellini on 8 ½, and explains how Fellini helped her direct her first film. Wertmuller also discusses the important role women had in Fellini's life. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (18 min).

• Vittorio Storaro - in this archival program, Vittorio Storaro discusses cinematogtharer Gianni Di Venanzo's unique use of light and work with Federico Fellini on 8 ½. In English. (18 min).

• Fellini: A Director's Notebook - Federico Fellini made this hour-long "documentary" for producer Peter Goldfrab and NBC in 1969. A meditation on his films -- including those he had abandoned and those he had not yet made -- it follows the path laid out by 8 ½ and leading to such later self-reflexive films as Fellini's Roma and Orchestra Rehearsal. (52 min). Also included is a letter Fellini sent to producer Peter Goldfrab, in which he outlined his plans for Fellini: A Director's Notebook. (In text format).

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for 8 ½. (3 min)

• Photographs - presented here are rare photographs from Gideon Bachmann's collection.

• Stills - a gallery of behind-the-scenes and production photos.

• Booklet - a 30-page illustrated booklet featuring an excerpt from I, Fellini; a series of interviews with the Italian director by Charlotte Chandler; Tullio Kezich's essay "When He Became I"; Alexander Sesonske's essay "A Film with Itself As Its Subject"; and "I, Fellini (reprise)".

8½ Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As expected, Criterion's treatment of Federico Fellini's 8 ½ does not disappoint. In fact, this epic film has never looked this good. Let's hope that in 2010 Criterion would delight us with even more classic Italian films on Blu-ray. Perhaps some of Michelangelo Antonioni, Pietro Germi, Ettore Scola, Luciano Salce, and Valerio Zurlini's films? VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.