8 1/2
Sunday, Dec 6, 2026 12:00 PM
Selected by Mitchell Kaplan
In his second collaboration with Fellini, Marcello Mastroianni plays Guido, a filmmaker suffering from "director's block". Amid artistic and marital difficulties, he has lost interest in his new sci-fi film that includes veiled autobiographical references. He struggles to work half-heartedly with flashbacks and dreams intruding into his reality. Winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and a constant presence on prestigious compilations of the greatest films of all time, a sampling of accolades suffice to guarantee its pedigree. "It's Fellini's last black-and-white picture," wrote Jonathan Rosenbaum, "and conceivably the most gorgeous and inventive thing he ever did." Echoed Stanley Kauffmann: "In terms of execution I cannot remember a more brilliant film."
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