Federico Fellini is considered one of the top film directors of all time, especially in Italy. His films highlighted artistic fantasy and desire and the line between reality and magic vanished in the scenes that he depicted in his movies, thereby creating the surreal imagery that many Italians, and in fact many playgoers around the world, have come to relish.

Fellini was born in the coastal town of Rimini in the resort city Adriatic on January 20th, 1920. His town drew variety show performers and circuses in large numbers and he was enamored by this, evidence of which can be found in the dream-like characteristics of his movies. In his youth, he abandoned a lot of career streams ostensibly to pursue the ideal job. He enrolled in law and then dropped out, took up a job as a crime reporter only to quit later and in fact did not even join the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografias. He settled down nicely in his job as a nomadic caricaturist and in 1939, was hired by the popular comic bi-weekly, Marc ‘Aurelio. This bi weekly made many a script writer and a director in the postwar period and hence in a way, helped Fellini launch his career.

It was his good fortune that the Italian culture of those days was very conducive to pursue a career in the movies. His strong points of sketching caricatures and cartoons and acting as a stand up comedian stood him in good stead when he entered cinema. It was indeed a tribute to Fellini that writer Italo Calvino once referred to his cinematic language as a “forcing of the photographic image in a direction that carries it from an image of caricature towards that of the visionary.”

In the year 1943, Fellini married actress Giulietta Masina, with whom he had acted in many films and whom he referred to as a person who has had profound influence on his work.

His various works

The turning point in his film career took place in 1945, when he was asked to co –author the script of Roberto Rosellini’s ‘Open City.’ Three years later, Fellini acted in Rosselini’s ‘Ways of Love’ where he (Fellini) played a tramp. ‘Variety Lights,’ released in 1950, was the first film he directed (in co operation with the famous Alberto Lattuada). In the years to come, he directed critically acclaimed films like ‘The White Sheik’ (A comedy about a woman’s love affair with a comic strip character), and ‘I Vitteloni’ (a story about a group of aimless young wanderers). ‘La Strada’, in 1954, brought him to limelight in the international arena. One of the most memorable movies of all time, this movie is about an innocent young woman sold to a cruel man working in a circus. The movie became a masterpiece and not only Fellini, but Nino Rota’s haunting music and a brilliant performance by Masina, the innocent girl, were responsible for its success. The crowning glory came when the movie won the Oscar prize for the best ‘Foreign language film’ category.

The hallmark works of his career were ‘La Dolce Vita’ and ‘8 1/2’ which he made in 1960 and 1963 respectively. The former was a journalist’s view of the contemporary Italian society and a very controversial movie that thrilled and incensed audiences the world over for its free depiction of sexuality (The Catholic church did not take this kindly) and criticisms aimed at Italy (which did not, naturally, go well with the Italian government). Having given the world a taste of what he was capable of delivering, people eagerly awaited his next movie, ‘8 1/2.’ ‘8 1/2’ was a well-calculated risk which went well among the masses. Having made a successful movie in La Dolce Vita, Fellini was under pressure to deliver. Since he did not know what movie to make next, after much thought, he decided to make a movie about a director who did not know what movie to make next. Fellini brilliantly depicted the mental trials that a film maker in such a state would be undergoing using surreal imagery where there was no distinction between reality and fantasy – a theme he loved most.

Fellini’s first movie in colour was ‘Juliet of the spirits’, which was released in 1965. This movie once again starred Masina, whose career was waning and who had begun to have personal problems with Fellini. Juliet, in this film, explored the mind of a disturbed high class housewife and, for the first time, Fellini got more brickbats for a movie, than bouquets.

‘Satyricon’ is lauded by many as his perfect film. The most fantastical of all his movies, this work of his exposes the obscene escapades of bi sexual characters in a pre-Christian world. Fellini classifies the film as ‘science-fiction of the past’ and true to the tag, there are a lot of scenes in the movie that are left hanging, leaving the audiences guessing what they really depicted. With a variety of elements like Sex (including nudity), an erotic feast (and even an orgy), dwarves, violent action and creatures from the fables, this movie was a visual treat. The critics were divided in their opinion, some non-sparing in their remarks, some describing it to be a path breaking movie which will revolutionise the way films are made.

The gradual decline

Since the time he made this movie, he has been less consistent in gaining praise and acceptance from the people. Later movies like ‘The Clowns(1971)’, ‘Roma(1972)’, and the little-known ‘Orchestral rehearsal(1979)’ did include his central theme of fantasy and dreamlike characteristics, but it was beginning to get evident that his best was past him. ‘Amarcord,’ which he made in 1974, was his best movie after ‘Satyricon’ and it won him his fourth Oscar for ‘Best Foreign Film.’

As the 80’s progressed, he found it increasingly difficult to convince people to fund his films. His final movie was made in 1990 and was titled ‘Voice of the Moon.’

Post retirement

Since the ‘Voice of the Moon’ Fellini slipped into partial retirement and was pursuing other projects. He won an Oscar for ‘Lifetime Achievement in Film making’ in 1994, which he graciously dedicated to Masina. A stroke attacked him in the August of 1994 and he slipped into a coma later that year. At the age of 73, Fellini died. And the fact that his death came a day after his 50th wedding anniversary saddened the event even more for Masina. (Masina died five months later due to cancer). Thousands of people attended the funeral ceremony in his small hometown of Rimini. The casket was taken to the cinema theatres where Fellini had watched his initial films as a small boy.

Such was his fame that the International airport in Rimini has been named after him. There are people who adore him, there are those who say his themes and movie making styles are repetitive, but none would dare challenge the fact that he has been one of the most influential Italian movie directors of all time and his movies have given all lots to think about. And for a man who looks up upon the great film directors like Kurosawa and Bergman, he hasn’t done badly himself either, with four Oscars for best movie under his belt.