8½

Title: 8½
Year: 1963
Director: Federico Fellini
Writers: Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli, Federico Fellini & Brunello Rondi
Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimée, Sandra Milo
Music: Nino Rota
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Costume Design (black-and-white); Oscar nominations for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Art Direction/Set Decoration; currently #150 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: an adulterous director doesn't make a movie
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for concept, story, characters) c. 2.9/4 (Good).

It's an okay movie, and I can see why certain people like it. The lead character (who is a director in pre-production of a movie remarkably similar to 8½) sums it up pretty well: "I really have nothing to say, but I want to say it all the same." I guess it's kind of cute that the movie contains its own criticisms (and there's a lot of that -- it's like the movie is an essay on itself). But what really strikes me about that quotation is that he sees the problem as having "nothing to say," rather than having no story to tell. Maybe it's just me, but I've got this crazy notion that fiction is supposed to tell stories...