140 8½

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ianungstad
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Re: 140 8 1/2

#151 Post by ianungstad » Fri Dec 26, 2014 4:33 pm

I upgraded to the Blu-ray recently. Does anyone else find the subtitles on this nearly impossible to read? The subtitles are frequently almost impossible to differentiate from the whites on screen.

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barryconvex
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Re: 140 8 1/2

#152 Post by barryconvex » Sat Dec 27, 2014 1:53 am

I watched the blu a few months ago and don't recall having a problem...

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Roger Ryan
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Re: 140 8 1/2

#153 Post by Roger Ryan » Sat Jan 03, 2015 8:21 pm

ianungstad wrote:I upgraded to the Blu-ray recently. Does anyone else find the subtitles on this nearly impossible to read? The subtitles are frequently almost impossible to differentiate from the whites on screen.
The only trouble I have is with the sheer amount of dialogue (often witty) competing with the constant flow of amazing images: my eyes don't know where to look!

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Trees
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Re:

#154 Post by Trees » Thu Jan 21, 2016 4:43 pm

Gregory wrote:Guido's infatuations with Carla (Sandra Milo) and Claudia are symptoms of his immaturity.... With Claudia, he engages in a kind of virginal woman-worship. He is too weak and immature to fully relate to the commitments and complexities of a relationship with a intelligent, three-dimensional woman. So he imagines that if he could just be with Claudia instead, she would be perfection, all would be blissful.
I have news for you... this a state of mind many men will relate to. And who's to say that it could not work out with the lovely Claudia. As Sausage and others pointed out, something is not working in this guy's life as it relates to his wife. You say he's too immature, and many artists are, but maybe equally the wife is "too mature"? She doesn't seem like a good match for him. Why should someone spend their life banging their head against a brick wall with only bruises and torment to show for it?

The thing I definitely love most about this film is its boundless energy. It reminds me a bit Parajanov's "Shadows" in terms of its daring, bravado and unrestrained exuberance. Parts of the film, especially that insane harem dream sequence set to Wagner, are as exhilarating and euphoric as cinema gets.

flyonthewall2983
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Re: 140 8 1/2

#155 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Fri Apr 08, 2022 12:17 am

Watched this the other night. My first Fellini. I have some major blindspots as far as cinema goes, especially from outside of North America and well even from within too. I like what I like and I never really thought of myself as some of the people I’ve seen on television and gush over something I may have just brushed off and respected from afar but not taking the full plunge because it would somehow feel as if my intellect were being insulted if I didn’t get it.

I’m almost 40, and one of the many gifts I am finding amidst this whole new wisdom I’ve perhaps earned by sticking around as long as I have, is the ability to finally shut myself off from such feelings like that, and allow myself some more challenges to what I thought I knew about the world and the opportunity for perhaps enlightenment and even happiness.

And I still know what I like. I can throw down with the people I hang out with about the more popular movies we grew up with. National Lampoon’s European Vacation was on the tv last week, and we had a good laugh bringing up those 80’s comedies many of us here we’ve talked about with a similar energy if not passion, more informed directly by nostalgia then even if the movie was good or not.

I can’t talk about this or Fellini with them or would even be interested to suggest putting it on instead of the ballgame, because even at this late stage, I can still become acquainted with the people, from the place I spent so much of my life avoiding. And that’s been the gift of coming here, suddenly realizing this as I am writing it.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: 140 8 1/2

#156 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri Apr 08, 2022 1:01 am

So what did you think of 8 1/2?

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Re: 140 8 1/2

#157 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Fri Apr 08, 2022 10:35 am

I loved it, and found it to be far less of a Rubik’s cube of a plot then I maybe imagined it to be. And as with finally watching Citizen Kane, I saw where it fits in the larger picture of how it influenced people here as it surely did in Italy and across Europe.

In all of it’s supposed otherness that is meant and maybe serves best as a respite from the more supposedly bland surroundings I have lived in, it is very easily relatable. He’s tortured by the pull of his desires, and his strict religious upbringing. It’s the shame brought on by people of the cloth, that collects much of the toxic aspects of his personality but also perhaps the muse that drives him along.

The spaceship set is as much a monument to stress and unchecked emotions as it is to this guy’s artistic vision. The best comparison I can make is the scene in Fight Club after it’s revealed that Narrator’s apartment exploded. The totality of a person laid bare and dissected like a crime scene, which it in fact is in that case. With that monstrous movie set, maybe scarier then anything that would ever be filmed on it, it is like some manifestation of the soul combined with what happens when you finally see just how much other junk you left behind gathering dust under your couch.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: 140 8½

#158 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri Apr 08, 2022 10:50 am

You should move La dolce vita to the top of your queue then, as the themes and sensations you mention here are, in my opinion, felt infinitely stronger in that film. I’ve come to love 8 1/2 over time after merely liking it for years, but Fellini’s previous film is an All-Timer

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DarkImbecile
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Re: 140 8½

#159 Post by DarkImbecile » Fri Apr 08, 2022 11:00 am

Agreed; outside of a few stellar sequences, I mostly just respect , but I love La dolce vita, and I think it’s the most accessible summation of Fellini’s interests and talents.

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Roger Ryan
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Re: 140 8 1/2

#160 Post by Roger Ryan » Fri Apr 08, 2022 1:07 pm

flyonthewall2983 wrote:
Fri Apr 08, 2022 10:35 am
... He’s tortured by the pull of his desires, and his strict religious upbringing. It’s the shame brought on by people of the cloth, that collects much of the toxic aspects of his personality but also perhaps the muse that drives him along.

The spaceship set is as much a monument to stress and unchecked emotions as it is to this guy’s artistic vision. The best comparison I can make is the scene in Fight Club after it’s revealed that Narrator’s apartment exploded. The totality of a person laid bare and dissected like a crime scene, which it in fact is in that case. With that monstrous movie set, maybe scarier then anything that would ever be filmed on it, it is like some manifestation of the soul combined with what happens when you finally see just how much other junk you left behind gathering dust under your couch.
Very insightful analysis!

I'll jump on the bandwagon with a recommendation for La dolce vita; I've considered it my favorite film of all time for a few years now. While the three hour length may seem daunting, Fellini packs in an incredible amount of vivid characters and locations while revealing devastating soul-crushing truths about the human experience with the ease of ordering breakfast.

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Re: 140 8½

#161 Post by FrauBlucher » Fri Apr 08, 2022 1:30 pm

Flyonythewall, since your initial post I was curious to hear your opinion. Fellini is probably my favorite director and those two films mentioned respectively are his masterpieces. Your analysis was strong and insightful. I will take the other side of the coin and say I’m more into
8 1/2. The imagery in 8 1/2 can’t represent the inner turmoil that Fellini felt any more significantly than anything else I’ve seen from him.

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