A Potpourri of Vestiges Feature
Murtaza Ali Khan
Italian
Embassy Cultural Centre is hosting a week long Federico Fellini retrospective
in collaboration with the India Habitat Centre. As part of the retrospective,
eight of Fellini’s best known films will be screened starting with his 1973
Academy Award-winning masterpiece Amarcord on the 23rd of October,
2021. Along with introducing each of the eight films ahead of their respective
screenings at the India Habitat Centre, I will also be introducing Fellini to
the audiences while touching upon the importance of his films in India.
The legendary master Italian
filmmaker Federico Fellini is not just recognized as one of the greatest and
most influential filmmakers of all time but also as a great humanist whose life
long work stands as a testament to his love for telling universally relevant
stories about common people and life in Italy. Despite his origins in Italian
Neorealism as a screenwriter for the luminary Italian director Roberto
Rossellini, Fellini gradually emerged out of his shadows to carve a niche for
herself with films like The White Sheik (1952), I Vitelloni (1953), La Strada
(1954), Il Bidone (1955), and Nights of Cabiria (1957). And then he took a huge
leap with La Dolce Vita (1960). Not many filmmakers in the world have succeeded
in taking such a gigantic leap between films like the one Fellini took with La
Dolce Vita.
But what did he do after La
Dolce Vita? He made 8 ½ which is another major leap (it’s something that is
unheard of except when maybe Ingmar Bergman made Persona). With 8 ½, Fellini catapulted
himself to an entirely different level of stardom altogether. The film in many
ways also perpetuated the wide usage of the term ‘Felliniesque’ which would
become synonymous with any kind of extravagant, fanciful, even baroque imagery
in cinema—a sort of a superimposed dreamlike or hallucinatory imagery upon
ordinary situations. Contemporary filmmakers like Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam,
Emir Kusturica, and David Lynch have cited Fellini's influence on their work. Fellini's
influence on Indian cinema is most evident in the works of Indian filmmakers
like Mani Kaul (director of films like Duvidha, Uski Roti, Nazar, The Cloud
Door, etc) and Kumar Shahani (the director of films like Maya Darpan, Tarang
and other movies).
Amarcord, the first film to
be screened as part of the retrospective, tells the story about Titta, an
adolescent boy growing up among an eccentric cast of characters in a village
near the ancient walls of Rimini in 1930s Fascist Italy (Rimini was where
Fellini was born and the political turmoil during the rule of the Fascist
regime in Italy also had a profound influence on Fellini's life and work). The
title basically translates to "I Remember" and aptly so. For, like
many films of Fellini's, Amarcord is autobiographical in nature at so many
levels. In fact, the character of Titta is based on Fellini’s childhood friend
from Rimini who went on to become a lawyer. The two remained good friends all
their lives. Amarcord is perhaps the last of Fellini's undisputed masterworks.
Even though Fellini would continue to make important films but Amarcord in many
ways is the last of his films to receive universal acclaim. It is also the last
Fellini film to win the Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film. The film is
particularly noted for its criticism of Fascism as well as the Catholic Church
but its comical tone cuts Fellini the slack to unleash a strong critique.
The romantic comedy The
White Sheik, which will be screened on October 24, follows Ivan and Wanda who visit
Rome for their honeymoon. However, when Wanda suddenly disappears to find the
White Sheik, the hero of a soap opera, Ivan struggles to hide it from his
family who want to meet his missing bride.
The third film to be
screened as part of the retrospective on October 27 is I Vitelloni which
presents a character study of five young men at crucial turning points in their
lives in a small town in Italy. One of the Italian maestro’s most imitated
films, I Vitelloni is said to have inspired directors like Martin, Scorsese,
George Lucas, Phillip Kaufman, Barry Levinson, Joel Schumacher, Juan Antonio
Bardem, Marco Ferreri, and Lina Wertmüller, among others.
The next film on the lineup
is Il Bidone which follows a group of swindlers who dress up as clerics and con
poor farmers out of their savings. Il Bidone will be screened on the 28th
of October followed by Nights of Cabiria on October 29 and La Dolce Vita on
October 30. On the final day of the retrospectively not one but two films will
be screened: 8 ½ (1963) and Fellini Satyricon (1969).
The Federico Fellini
retrospective was originally scheduled to take place last year, marking the
centenary celebrations of the master filmmaker, who was born in Rimini, Italy
in the year 1920. But, the retrospective had to be delayed by a year owing to
the COVID-19 pandemic.
A version of this review was first published at The Daily Guardian.
Readers, please feel free to share your opinion by leaving your comments. As always your valuable thoughts are highly appreciated
People who liked this also liked...
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for sharing for valuable opinion. We would be delighted to have you back.