8½ (1963)

First of all, I have no clue what exactly to say about this film.

Just about every critic who pays attention to foreign film calls this one of the greatest films of all-time. Sight and Sound called this the third greatest film ever behind Citizen Kane and The Godfather parts 1 and 2. Roger Ebert, who does not like to rank films, says it's no surprise that it was regarded so highly. The film is ranked as the 5th greatest film ever by They Shoot Pictures, Don't They, and the British Film Institute calls it the 3rd greatest film ever. I could go on and on, but that demonstrates my point.

8½ is the quintessential film about making pictures. The film is about a guy named Guido (Marcello Mastroianni) who is supposed to direct a science fiction film that is supposed to be simple, yet highly-effective. He doesn't really have a screenplay written at all and his advisers all tell him what he has is garbage. He tries to find some actors but can't pick any and won't tell them anything about the film's plot - probably because he doesn't have a plot in mind. He also encounters some marital difficulties during the film. Unlike just about every film ever made, the plot here is almost irrelevant. While it's very simple on the surface, watching the film it makes very little sense throughout. There are a series of flashbacks and dream sequences by the director during the film and these are interwoven into the film such that you don't even realize that they aren't a part of the main story.

The film addresses some themes, but they're hard to understand if you've only seen the film once so I didn't really get them all that well. The film is mostly a look at the struggles involved in the creative process of a work of art. Namely, the artist is expected to create something brilliant, has a deadline to do so, and doesn't really know what to do. The film also addresses the effects of modernization. I suppose it is these themes which makes the film great, but everything was just so confusing that these films were rather difficult to think about after a first viewing.

In addition to everything mentioned so far, this film was quite artistically shot. The film makes very good use of shadows and contrasts between shades of blacks and whites. Generally black and white makes good use of blacks but this film is even more impressive with its use of whites. There are several scenes with characters dressed in white and a white background which was kind of different. The musical score is also well-done at times.

Overall, I'm not sure what to make of this film. I can somewhat appreciate the subtleties that make this film brilliant, but as I have not seen it several times and attempted to analyze it, I also feel like the lack of a plot made this awful. I'll compromise and give it a mediocre score.

73.5/100
C

UP NEXT: Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat.