The Italian director Federico Fellini is a recognized master and classic of world cinema. He managed to become the owner of five Oscar statuettes, and to this day is a record. The creativity of this great master changed the idea of cinema and its capabilities.
Fellini in childhood and youth
Federico Fellini was born in 1920 in the resort town of Rimini in a poor traveling salesman family. At the age of seven, Federico became a student at the monastery's school. And when he was seventeen, he went to Florence and got a job here as a cartoonist at the Febo Publishing House. His earnings were modest, but he could completely do without the help of his father and mother.
A year later, Fellini moved to Rome, where he continued to draw funny caricatures for newspapers - many readers liked them. And in Rome, Fellini entered the law faculty of the National University. But he didn’t really want to be a lawyer, the main goal was different - to get a reprieve from army service.
Fellini during the war
During the Second World War, Fellini proved himself as a screenwriter for radio shows. In 1943, on an Italian radio, one could hear funny programs about a fictional couple of lovers - Chico and Pauline. Scenarios for these programs created just Fellini. Once he was offered to film these stories, and he agreed. One of the actresses involved for this project was the beautiful Juliet Mazina. The future filmmaker really liked this girl, and already on October 30, 1943 they formalized their relationship.
In March 1945, a son was born in the Fellini family, it was decided to name him, as well as his father - Federico. Alas, the baby was very poor in health and died a few weeks after birth. The couple did not have other children. But this did not stop them from living together for fifty years. That is, Juliet was the director’s only wife, and he certainly considered her his muse.
Of great importance for Fellini's career was his acquaintance with the Italian director Roberto Rossellini (this acquaintance also happened during the war years). Fellini created the script for his film "Rome - an open city." The tape was released in 1945 and instantly made its creators famous. Fellini's work was rated very highly; he even received an Oscar nomination. Today the film "Rome - an open city" is considered a vivid example of Italian neorealism.
First films
In 1950, Fellini was first noted in the credits as a director. The film "Lights of Variety", shot together with Alberto Lattuada, received mainly positive reviews from critics.
Then Fellini staged the films "The White Sheikh" (released in 1952) and "Mama's Sons" (1953). To a certain extent, they adhere to the neorealistic tradition, but at the same time, you can find in them features that are unusual for this direction, for example, a departure from the linear structure of the narrative, fixation on certain interesting details.
A real hit was the next picture of Fellini called "The Road" (1954). She brought both him and his wife Juliet Mazina, who played the main role here, fame throughout the world and the treasured Oscar figurines.
Fellini's work from 1955 to 1990
In 1955, Fellini made the film "Fraud", in 1957 - "Nights of Cabiria", and in 1960 - the legendary "Sweet Life" (La Dolce Vita). Many rightly consider this movie to be the pinnacle of the director’s creativity. Here he managed to show life as a kind of miracle, full of pleasant moments that he wants to savor as a heady sweet drink. Although at first in Italy, the film was sharply criticized, in particular, for the frank striptease scene. It is also interesting that in "Sweet Life" there is a hero whose surname has become a household name - we are talking about the photographer Paparazzo.
Fellini's next movie masterpiece was called Eight and a Half. It was released in 1963 and became truly innovative. In this tape, the Italian director went on editing experiments, bold enough for his time. In other words, Fellini was one of the first to use the technique of the stream of consciousness in cinema.
Starting with the movie Juliet and Perfume (1965), Fellini shoots exclusively in color. In the early seventies, the Italian director tried to rethink his memories of childhood and youth in three films: the semi-documentary comedy "Clowns", which was not appreciated by the mass audience, as well as in the films "Rome" (1972) and "Amarcord" (1973). Amarkord is perhaps the most politicized work of the master. In this film, the realities of fascist Italy of the thirties are shown through the experiences of the protagonist - a fifteen-year-old teenager named Titta.
In the eighties, the director took off such tapes as "And the ship is sailing …", "City of Women", "Ginger and Fred", "Interview". In these films, motifs that Fellini has already touched on in one way or another are repeated. But none of them achieved success comparable, say, with the success of La Dolce Vita. In addition, in this decade, the director has been criticized a lot for self-citing and separation from reality.
Fellini shot his last motion picture “Voices of the Moon” in 1990. Here, the director showed the audience the world through the eyes of a kind crazy man who had just left the mental hospital.
