chosen by Katherine and Danny
The film
An Italian film director is working on a science fiction film, but he's got "director's block". He has problems with his stars, his wife and his mistress. The film moves through flashbacks and dreams, as he explores the challenges of depicting the 'truth'.
8 1/2 was directed by Federici and released in 1963.
The response
Katherine and Danny chose this film, to introduce a classic into our repertoire. They chose it 'blind' and only saw it on the morning of the day we met.
First, the grumbles - the library copy was slightly damaged so some of us didn't watch the whole thing and (because of Christmas) some households hadn't seen it at all. The subtitles were difficult to read, too.
Danny and Katherine liked the style - and it must have made a big impression in 1963ut - but agreed it would need several viewings to appreciate it properly. It was quite difficult to remember the various scenes in the film. As a 'stream-of-consciousness' narrative it reminded Juliet of Ulyssees (written much earlier) or Anne Enright's' recent 'What are you like'. Sue and Bruce weren't very impressed, the story didn't seem to go anywhere. (Some of us thought that if the male attitudes in this film to women is at all representative of Italy today it's no wonder that Berlusconi is its Prime Minister.)
Before starting this film club we hadn't realised so many films are about the process of making films - and so many of them refer to each other. Looking forward to our next year of film viewing!
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