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.
Direction
Fellini's camera becomes a confession booth and a circus tent.
Cinematography
Black-and-white dreams that look how nostalgia feels.
Production
The spaceship set that Guido can't explain—pure unfiltered creative anxiety.
Director
Federico Fellini
Marcello Mastroianni
Guido Anselmi
Claudia Cardinale
Claudia
Anouk Aimée
Luisa Anselmi
Sandra Milo
Carla
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
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The title refers to Fellini's own filmography: six features, two shorts, and one co-directing credit—8½ films total.
This film basically invented the 'movie about movies' genre and made autobiographical cinema intellectually respectable.
IT
