It is magical when you get to watch 8 1/2 and Guilietta degli spiriti (Juliet of the Spirits) back to back on a weekend. In a theater.

I thought of writing some inane article on these movies, but even I cannot pretend to be a buff enough to do something that presumptuous. It has been a wonderful experience for me though it was about 7 hours in hard seats and I had to brave neck, back and arse sprain doing it.

Only thing I can say is that the movies are two sides of the same coin and it definitely makes a lot of sense to watch them together, if not in one sitting, at least within a short interval.

If you did not catch them this weekend, consider it a lost opportunity and don’t miss doing it if it ever happens again.

I think it is appropriate I can link to some thoughtful comments from Roger Ebert.

• 8 1/2
• Juliet of the Spirits

What the hell is that? Apart from the fact that it is an extinct mammal, it is also a new movie by the Swedish director Lukas Moodysson. Myself, #9 and another colleague of mine who watched the movie had an elaborate debate on the title of the movie. Let me say that we had some wild stabs but eventually settled on the idea that the name is absurd just for the sake of being absurd. I can buy that.

First up, let me say that I like the movie because it deals with an interesting topic that people don’t talk often about. It deals with gap created within families and the perils of people falling through them. The story has flaws, it is strongly opinionated and stereotypes all the characters. But that is alright because at the least, it provokes debate. There are a couple of other movies in similar vein that I enjoyed, simply because it allows for introspection and not because they are great films. One is Dirty Pretty Things that deals with the large cities and the immigrant population that keep them running and the other is Kinky Boots where issue of sexual discrimination non-acceptance is the central thesis.

That brings me to Mammoth. There is a consistent tone in the story line regarding mothers and children. The common thread is a strongly stereotyped working mothers. There are 5 women who are working away from their children so that they can give the kids a better life. Actually, one of them is not working, but expecting her daughter to work and support the family and another is never shown but we learn that she took out her rage on her son. The big irony being that the children are not really enjoying the life that the mothers are working for.

The commentary though stereotyped and biased, has some merit since it is indeed true that in the increasingly globalized and expensive world, raising kids is a difficult prospect and one has to make sacrifice of the family so that the family can have a better life. The focus is unfairly on the women but one can easily see that this sexist attitude needs to be relaxed and the theory should be seen in context.

The men in the movie are simply fillers added in to move the story along. One is a whale song listener, other is a bum leeching on his sisters earnings, another is a rich and extremely shallow negotiator. Ultimately,  the only strong male character is a weak man. He is actually successful and rich but is portrayed as someone who is incapable of making decisions and st some point is seen talking rubbish about backpacker lifestyle and living in his imaginary world of giving it all up, sailing around the world, starting a charity and stuff like that. The sad part is that though the thoughts are noble, he is just wavering through them. We also see that the successful doctor is emotionally very dependent on this bumbling fool which just drives my overt sexism theory deeper.

For all its demerits, I still enjoyed the movie, it had its lighter moments when the Thai girls were discussing, ahem, people of the world. I guess the movie ultimately is not great but well worth watching. Not a bad bet for this film festival.

Ah, it so happens that the National Museum along with the Italian Cultural Institute is showcasing the movies of Federico Fellini.

If you have never watched (or heard) of Fellini, let me tell you this, you are missing out on what are some of the best movies ever made. Well snobbery aside, some of my all time favorite movies are films made by Fellini. I have but watched just a handful of them and when I heard of the screening from #9, I had decided to fill up on Fellini.

Well, the trouble is that most of the shows that are being screened are one screen only and I have to space myself to avoid overdose. Some of the movies I wanted to watch were back to back and if you know Fellini, you might know that watching back to back is a sure recipe for insanity, especially his later films. Anyhow, I guess I ended up scheduling myself for some movies I have never watched and some I was sure I had to watch in a cinema. What follows is not a review or a critique. There are tons of articles and opinions online (Fellini is one of the most celebrated film makers) and very insightful critiques too. So go and look for them.

First up was Il Bidone. The guy who introduced the movie clearly said that the movie was boo’d at Venice and what we were watching was the uncut-boo’d version. Turns out the Boo-d 50′s movie is actually nicer than most movies being made for 100′s of millions now.

The movie is simple by any standards. The story line is linear and predictable. The characters are literally one dimensional and left hanging without any sense of resolution. But those are easily overlooked. What stands out is the sense of humor woven into the film. Even in very serious sequences of the film there is something funny going on in the background. Like the feller who introduced the film said, this gives a feel for  some of Fellini’s trademark style that he developed in his future movies. Personally, I thought the movie was good, I think I got my money’s worth and had a glimpse of Fellini’s earlier film.

But I did miss some of the things I love about his movies. The absurd characters, clowns, circuses etc… The ensemble usually works like trees in a forest waving in the wind. Il Bidone did not have any of that. The closest was probably the New year Party sequence where you can see a bunch of extras carrying on with the dancing, even the fellers standing still, are constantly moving to the rhythm. The typical Fellini moment was the lone Giulietta Masina standing in the middle feeling totally out of place.

I suppose Il Bidone stands like that out of place among my other Favorite Fellini’s. But so do his other movies stand alone when compared to the over the top abstract movies he made towards the later pert of his career. Ah well, who am I to criticize. The movie was good in its own merit and that’s what matters. One thing is clear though, if I had to choose a place to party, I will choose 50′s Elitist Rome as my venue. Ahem.

Update: I missed documenting the best part of the evening. As you can imagine, there will be a few film buff’s around in a Film festival and there will be some pretend-snobs. As it is with me I take great joy in observing these people. There was this guy why was trying to impress his ‘date’ and was pointing to the large poster of ‘La Dolce Vita’ and was telling the lady, that is ‘La Strada’. Then he went on explaining to her about one of the movies (I could not catch the conversation). It was pretty darn funny because the lady went, “yea we should watch it”. I want to be at the screening of La Strada to catch the couple in action again. Heh.