Viewed in
2010
Premise
An Italian movie director struggles with his latest work while he "struggles" with infidelity to his wife.
Liked
Guido/Luisa scenes.
Hated
All the pretentious envelope-pushing.
Thoughts
I have finally watched a Fellini film. Too bad it was too artsy-fartsy for my taste.
The best part was just after the middle, when the plot and story-telling slowed down and focused on Guido and Luisa's failing marriage. I enjoyed the razor-sharp dialogue as she confronted him on his affairs while he continued to deny everything. Their conversations had some good insights about relationships and their complexities.
Additionally, the cinematography was very well-done, especially in showing off the many shapely, radiant females. As a straight male, I had no problems staring at these beautiful, voluptuous women.
As much as I enjoyed the Guido/Luisa moments, it was sandwiched by what appears to be artistic razzle-dazzle. Throughout the movie, I was bombarded with crazy camera movement, exaggerated visuals, elaborate dream/flashback sequences, a movie-within-the-movie, and overlapping dialogue. Some of the dialogue was rather poetically brilliant, and I occasionally do not mind movies with stylized, unrealistic spoken words (like Juno or Pulp Fiction), but here it felt like they were just testing the audience's patience.
Speaking of dialogue, a lot of it was out of sync with the video. Turns out it was Fellini trademark of having his actors say one line during shooting, but then having them re-dub in post it with a re-written line. Even had I known that ahead of it, it still was annoying. Apparently, another Fellini special was circus parades. Well, that's just grand.
Afterward, I spent some time reading Ebert's reviews and other background information. It enlightened me on certain aspects, such as artistic twist of Fellini projecting himself in the protagonist, who then projected himself into the movie-within-the-movie. Some of the info made me appreciate the ambition, but it did not make me like the movie anymore.
I can extract some interesting themes and messages, but with all the frenetic visuals and audios, I had a lot of trouble enjoying this "classic". Maybe I have gotten older and less patient with artsy films. I feel like I should have enjoyed this more, considering how much I adored Charlie Kaufman's works. Guess I will find out the next time I re-watch Adaptation.
What I would change
No idea.
