With their blend of earthiness and dreamlike surrealism, the films of Federico Fellini dominated mid-twentieth-century art-house cinema. Though he began his career as a screenwriter for the neorealist titan Roberto Rossellini, Fellini quickly developed his own personal, poetic style in early triumphs like LA STRADA—starring his wife and muse Giulietta Masina—and in increasingly phantasmagorical masterpieces like 8½, JULIET OF THE SPIRITS, and AMARCORD. Larger than life, these internationally acclaimed works translated their creator’s memories, fantasies, and obsessions into teeming, carnivalesque images so inimitable they demanded the creation of a new adjective—“Felliniesque”—to do them justice.
Directed by Federico Fellini • 1953 • Italy
Starring Franco Interlenghi, Alberto Sordi, Franco Fabrizi
Five young men linger in a postadolescent limbo, dreaming of adventure and escape from their small seacoast town. They while away their time spending the lira doled out by their indulgent famil...
Directed by Federico Fellini • 1954 • Italy
Starring Giulietta Masina, Anthony Quinn, Richard Basehart
There has never been a face quite like that of Giulietta Masina. Her husband, the legendary Federico Fellini, directs her as Gelsomina in LA STRADA, the film that launched them both to internat...
Directed by Federico Fellini • 1963 • Italy
Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Bruno Agostini, Sandra Milo
Marcello Mastroianni plays Guido Anselmi, a director whose new project is collapsing around him, along with his life. One of the greatest films about film ever made, Federico Fellini’s 8½ (Otto...
Directed by Federico Fellini • 1965 • Italy
Starring Giulietta Masina, Sandra Milo, Mario Pisu
Cinematographer Gianni di Venanzo’s masterful use of Technicolor transforms JULIET OF THE SPIRITS, Fellini’s first color feature, into a kaleidoscope of dreams, spirits, and memories. Giulietta Masina ...
Directed by Federico Fellini • 1968 • Italy
Federico Fellini’s loose adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s “Never Bet the Devil Your Head” stars Terence Stamp as an alcoholic actor who suffers from disturbing visions.
Directed by Federico Fellini, Louis Malle, and Roger Vadim • 1968 • France, Italy
Federico Fellini, Louis Malle, and Roger Vadim each direct a tale from Edgar Allan Poe in this haunting anthology film.
Directed by Federico Fellini • 1973 • France, Italy
Starring Bruno Zanin, Pupella Maggio, Armando Brancia
This carnivalesque portrait of provincial Italy during the fascist period, the most personal film from Federico Fellini, satirizes the director’s youth and turns daily life into a circus of...
Directed by Federico Fellini • 1984 • Italy
Starring Freddie Jones, Barbara Jefford, Victor Poletti
In Fellini’s quirky, imaginative fable, a motley crew of European aristocrats (and a lovesick rhinoceros!) board a luxurious ocean liner on the eve of World War I to scatter the ashes of a beloved...
