8½( 1963)

TV-MADrama

81%

User
Score

A picture that goes beyond what men think about - because no man ever thought about it in quite this way!

Overview

Guido Anselmi, a film director, finds himself creatively barren at the peak of his career. Urged by his doctors to rest, Anselmi heads for a luxurious resort, but a sorry group gathers—his producer, staff, actors, wife, mistress, and relatives—each one begging him to get on with the show. In retreat from their dependency, he fantasizes about past women and dreams of his childhood.

Top Billed Cast

Marcello Mastroianni
Guido Anselmi
Anouk Aimée
Luisa Anselmi
Sandra Milo
Carla
Claudia Cardinale
Claudia
Rossella Falk
Rossella
Barbara Steele
Gloria Morin
Madeleine Lebeau
Madeleine, the French Actress
Caterina Boratto
Mysterious Lady
Eddra Gale
La Saraghina
Guido Alberti
Pace, the Producer
Mario Conocchia
Conocchia, the Production Manager
Bruno Agostini
Bruno, the Second Production Secretary
Cesarino Miceli Picardi
Cesarino, the Production Supervisor
Jean Rougeul
Carini, the Film Critic
Mario Pisu
Mario Mezzabotta
Yvonne Casadei
Jacqueline Bonbon
Ian Dallas
Maurice, Maya's Assistant
Mino Doro
Claudia's Agent
Nadia Sanders
Nadine, the Hostess
Georgia Simmons
Guido's Grandmother
Edy Vessel
The Model
Tito Masini
The Cardinal
Annie Gorassini
Producer's Friend
Rossella Como
Luisa's Friend
Mark Herron
Luisa's Suitor
Marisa Colomber
Guido's Aunt
Neil Robinson
The French Actress's Agent
Elisabetta Catalano
Matilde, Luisa's Sister
Eugene Walter
The American Journalist
Hazel Rogers
La negretta
Gilda Dahlberg
American Journalist's Wife
Mario Tarchetti
Claudia's Press Office
Mary Indovino
Maya, the Clairvoyant
Frazier Rippy
The Lay Secretary
Francesco Rigamonti
Luisa's Friend
Giulio Paradisi
A Friend
Marco Gemini
Guido as a Child
Giuditta Rissone
Guido's Mother
Annibale Ninchi
Guido's Father
Dina De Santis
Dina (uncredited)
Eva Gioia
Eva (uncredited)
Maria Tedeschi
School Director (uncredited)
Antonio Acqua
A Man in a Car (uncredited)
Giulio Calì
A Man in the Mud (uncredited)
Franco Caracciolo
Young Priest (uncredited)
Olimpia Cavalli
Olimpia (uncredited)
Sonia Gessner
(uncredited)
Mathilda Calnan
Luisa's Friend (uncredited)
Nadia Balabine
Priest Teacher (uncredited)
John Karlsen

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Review 3Discussion

A review by j_haseltine

NaN

Written by j_haseltine on Thu Aug 13 2015

Widely touted as one of the all-time great works of cinema, Federico Fellini’s 8½ is an elusive film about even more elusive things. It’s a meaningfully chaotic picture about trying to distil meaning from chaos and it’s a creative success about creative failure. It chronicles the resonant moments in one man’s life and admits that it can’t quite clarify why they matter. Doing justice to its early working title of The Beautiful Confusion, 8½ is a daring high wire act and an outstanding technical achievement that channels its story of artistic crisis into something sweepingly, uniquely profound. ...