"Intervista" **** (out of ****)Shamefully I have yet to review anything by the great Federico Fellini on this blog. My original intention was to introduce a Fellini film as part of my "Masterpiece Film Series", but, since I've recently made an entry already, Istvan Szabo's "Szerelmesfilm (Love Film)" it is too soon for another. So I'd just have to review one of Fellini's later works. But which one? The problem is I don't like Fellini's later films such as "Ginger & Fred", "And the Ship Sails On" or "City of Women". Of these later films "Intervista" is the best.
"Intervista" was made in 1987, it was Fellini's second to last film though oddly enough, it was his last movie released in America in 1993, just before Fellini's death. His actual last film, released in 1990 was "Voice of the Moon", which still hasn't been released on VHS or DVD in America.
Federico Fellini is arguably the most famous Italian director in the history of cinema. People who know nothing about Italian movies have at least heard the name Fellini before.
Fellini didn't start his career as a director. He was first a screenwriter, working on several films before his big break happened and he started writing for Roberto Rossellini. Their first collaboration was on the neo-realistic classic, "Rome, Open City", one of the most influential films in the movement. They continued working together on "Paisan".
Eventually Fellini moved up to directing. His first film was "Variety Lights" (1950) which he co-directed with Alberto Lattuada. It starred his wife Giulietta Masina. Two years later he would direct his first solo film, the charming comedy "The White Sheik".
Fellini's world was a colorful, vivid fantasy. Very little, if anything, could be taken for realism. His films offered a caricature view of society, from the distinguished faces he loved to film to the buxom women parading around throughout. In Peter Bondannella's book, "Italian Cinema: From Neorealism to the Present", Mr. Bondannella observes Fellini was interested "in the creation of new belief systems and new mythologies explains why childhood, adolescence, growing up, and the move from provinces to the city loom so large as themes in his films."
In "Intervista" we see all of this at play. The film has a Japanese television crew, which is following Fellini, as he prepares for production for his latest film, an adaptation of Franz Kafka's novel "Amerika".
But "Intervista" is about more than this. The Japanese crew is merely a plot device to take us into Fellini's dreams and fantasies. We see Fellini and his crew working hard at the famed studio, Cinecitta. Fellini recalls to the television crew his memories of when he first walked onto the set, back then as a journalist preparing to interview a famous actress, who he had a mad crush on.
But "Intervista" interrupts these memories as we realize it is all part of a movie. So often the viewer doesn't realize what they are watching. Are we seeing Fellini's memories or a movie? Are we in the past, present or future? Is the documentary even real or part of the movie? I think the point Fellini is trying to make by doing this is to create a blurry line between fact and fiction, reality and fantasy. The line between life and art and more specifically the line between Fellini's life and his art. Just how much of himself is in his movies. Fellini would have us believe it is all make believe. Going back to Bondanella's book he writes of an actual interview Fellini gave to an Italian magazine in which he is quoted as saying, "It is not memory that dominates my films. To say my films are autobiographical is an overly facile liquidation, a hasty classification." But a documentary was made on Fellini's career titled; "Fellini: I'm A Born Liar". So who knows what to believe.
Most artist declare their work is not a reflection of their own life. Their films do not reflect their memories. But Fellini's entire career is of movies based on memories. "Intervista" has much in common with his classic film, "Amarcord", which was about his childhood, family and his beloved Italy. Like "Amarcord", "Intervista" takes us on a trip full of nostalgia.
At one point in the movie we hear a piece of a score which Fellini's most trusted composer, Nino Rota wrote for one of his films. And soon memories flood our brain as we think of the beautiful music in "Amarcord", "Juliet of the Spirits" and "La Dolce Vita". Music lovers everywhere will tell you sometimes the score to a Fellini movie is just as memorable as the film itself. In this movie the score is by Nicola Piovani, though it retains the spirit of Rota's best scores.
Another sequence in the film, and perhaps the most famous, has Fellini meeting Marcello Mastroianni, who is working on a commercial on the Cinecitta lot. They greet each other and take a drive. Fellini has a surprise for him. They arrive at the home of Anita Ekberg. Mastroianni and Ekberg appeared in Fellini's "La Dolce Vita". They both look different now, Ekberg is no longer the beauty she was back in the 60s, but she carries herself with the same elegance. Fellini cuts from the reunion to show us clips from "La Dolce Vita". If you don't get goosebumps during the scene clearly you are the wrong audience for this movie.
And with this scene another level of sadness is added. Not just because Mastroianni and Ekberg are older but because as I said this would be Fellini's last film released in America. It would be the last time we would see these three people together, working again. That in a way makes this a fitting departure for Fellini. It is a love letter to movies, especially his own, to his beloved Cinecitta, his crew, his childhood and his city. In short it is a representation of him.
Do we learn anything watching this film? It depends on what you wanted to learn. We don't learn about Fellini's personal life. But we witness his passion. In the end that may be more valuable.
"Intervista" is magical ride. It is a movie which should be watched by people who love movies. People who love the endless possibilities movies are capable of. You can create your own rules in a movie, your own world. Finally it should be viewed by people who love Fellini.
Throughout Fellini's long career he was nominated for a total of 12 Oscars. Four of them were for his directing ("Amarcord", "Saytyricon", "8 1\2" and "La Dolce Vita") while the other eight were for his screenplays including "Casanova", "I Vitelloni" and "La Strada". His "La Dolce Vita" won the palme d' or at Cannes and his "Nights of Cabiria", my personal favorite, was nominated.
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