The Magic of Fellini (2002) Online

If you are looking for an exhaustive biography on Fellini, then keep looking. In fact, this film provides almost no background on this famous director at all--other than very briefly discussing his marriage. His childhood, hobbies, and why he became a director aren't discussed at all. Instead, the film is all about his directing and writing style. This discussion took me by surprise, as unlike Alfred Hitchcock (who meticulously planned EVERY detail), Fellini just seemed to 'wing it' during much of his career. The barest of scripts and the barest of instruction to his actors--these were hallmarks of a Fellini film. And yet, despite being very organic and evolving productions, many of his films are today seen as classics. In addition, the film discusses some of the 'Fellini touches'--quirky things that make his movies stand out--like his love of weird looking actors. It's obvious Fellini was a real character and his quirkiness comes out in this film big time--through interviews with various actors, biographers, directors and the like. It's all nice for folks who want to see how a director works or if you are a Fellini-phile. Otherwise, it's a film that the average person would probably not be drawn to seeing.

Carmen Piccini's delightful documentary "The Magic of Fellini" was shown recently on the Sundance channel. It was a complete surprise because of its subject, Federico Fellini, who was one of the best directors of Italy of the last century, one would think needed no explanation about what made him one of the most admired figures of the Italian cinema. Ms. Piccini explores the man who was a legend and in less than one hour she makes us feel as though one knew this charismatic man intimately.

What comes across in the film is Fellini's genius. He was a man who basically had the ideas in his mind and who seldom bothered to write a screen play detailing each scene of the film he was directing. Fellini was a master of the improvisation style and as such, he gave his actors a general guide line to follow as most of the dialog was added in the editing. He was famous for having some of the American stars he employed in his films just move their lips and concentrating on the characters they were creating.

There are hilarious interviews on camera with Anthony Quinn, whose Zampano, in "La Strada" was perhaps his best film work, and with Donald Sutherland, who played Casanova for the master. Donald Sutherland is seen mumbling numbers in Italian that were later dubbed with an actor's voice speaking the great lines Fellini and his collaborators added later on. Claudia Cardinale is also seen in an interview on camera as she tries to explains the magic of working with Fellini.

Ms Piccini has included some of the best moments in the films Fellini directed such as the sequence when Anita Ekberg enters the Trevi fountain in Rome, in "La dolce vita". She also includes two of the best scenes from "Le notti di Cabiria" in which Giulietta Massina is seen dancing with the film star portrayed by Amadeo Nazzari, and later on as the film is ending when one sees Cabiria shedding tears as she walks home at the end of the picture.

This documentary is essential for admirers of Federico Fellini and Carmen Piccini has made it possible to the great director's fans to discover yet another layer of the man who was an absolute original.

Magic of Fellini, The (2002)

*** (out of 4)

Fifty-minute documentary on the life and career of the legendary Italian director. We get to see clips from his films as well as see interviews he gave throughout his career as well as some press conference footage and behind the scenes stuff. Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Donald Sutherland, Claudia Cardinale, Anita Ekberg and Anthony Quinn are among the people interviewed. This is a fairly interesting documentary but you really don't get to learn too much about the director. You also don't get to hear too much from the people being interviewed because they pack quite a bit of footage into this movie. Allen gets to speak a couple lines and the same is true with Scorsese. Sutherland gets the most screen time as they interview him at what appears to be some sort of Q&A session. He tells some nice stories about his working with Fellini and this includes a story about an American actress who couldn't keep from crying because the director kept screaming at her throughout her week of working on the film. Stories from various others range from Fellini not knowing the technical side of film-making to him not knowing how impatient he was.