A memorable score connects the very essence of the film-emulating the mood and rhythm of the movieвЂ™s non-linear structure of seemingly unrelated scenes. Underpinning the whole visual treat is a score by Nino Rota (1911-1979). His sexual awakening as a boy to the songs and the intense carnality of вЂњthe prostituteвЂќ, a woman who lived by the sea, the prohibition of the priests and a fantasy in which he lives in a household of all the women in his life who serve him and spoil him with abandon. Guido tries to throw himself into his memories to see if this can conjure inspiration for his film. Her statement becomes distinct when he has a chance to reconcile with his wife, but instead, he shuns the reconciliation-he is a director, a control-freak, even when he himself has lost all control. Beautiful is the scene in which Claudia appears in the flesh and tells him that he вЂњdoes not know how loveвЂќ. Soft-spoken and beautiful, вЂњgrown up among images of ancient beautyвЂќ. The muse ( Claudia Cardinale): who often appears to Guido as a daydream. She dances on the beach for the joy of the schoolboys. The prostitute ( Eddra Grale): the childhood phantom. The estranged wife ( Anouk AimГ©e): too motherly to be sensual. The mistress ( Sandra Milo): an over-dressed, over-exited wanna-be. These women are the kind of muses that belong in film. Guido, being one of them is also surrounded by an entourage of eccentric and mesmerizing women. That eternal sense of guilt.ДЇederico Fellini, director par excellence who has become an adjective (fellinian), has written some of the best characters in the history of cinema. Reality itself seems like a dream, a hallucination dipped in old-fashioned Catholic education that generates certain complexes. Guido is submerged by violent yet nostalgic childhood memories that in turn, mold into complex dreams of Freudian symbolism. The critic brutally denigrates his poverty of poetic inspiration with the flavorless observations of a cold intellect. While trying to recover from his anxieties in a luxurious spa, he hires a critic to examine his ideas for the film. HeвЂ™s vain, arrogant, impolite at times, but handsomely nonchalant and enigmatic. Guido (also being Federico FelliniвЂ™s alter-ego) is what you can call a sympathetic bastard. ItвЂ™s an intentional choice to show us the multi-layered cake that is life, and the mess in the artistвЂ™s mind. WeвЂ™re never quite sure what is real and what is not. One event which happens in reality becomes framed with another which is part of a memory, a dream or a fantasy. This is the very essence of the non-linear structure of the film an extended conscious dream fusing itself with reality. Taken by mysterious external forces, heвЂ™s suddenly flying over the city, just to fall back down on a nearby beach. Trapped in a traffic jam feeling increasingly claustrophobic our main protagonist has a panic attack-his breathing is heavy. A kaleidoscopic subliminal message of love. He doesnвЂ™t believe in anything except for the ghosts of his childhood who haunt him during the day and night. вЂњHalf a manвЂќ who ironically, doesnвЂ™t believe in the вЂњother halfвЂќ.

He canвЂ™t take any decisions for fear of taking the wrong turn. Half thoughts, half dreams and half desires characterize him. In a half is the soul of our charming hero Guido ( Marcello Mastroianni 1924-1996), a famous Italian film director, who suffers from repressed creativity while heвЂ™s trying to film a sci-fi epic. But that вЂњhalfвЂќ has a more philosophical meaning to it. His previous work consisted of 6 features, 2 shorts and a collaboration with another director, the latter 3 treated as вЂњhalfвЂќ films.

The slightly odd title of this surrealist comedy-drama refers to the film being the eighth and a half film as a director by Federico Fellini.

Federico fellini in the flesh