Fellini's deepest dreams
Author: Dr.Mike from Chicago, IL
17 January 2000
Juliet of the Spirits has become one of my favorite Fellini films. The story involves a woman who discovers that her husband is cheating on her. The forces of family, tradition, the church, and an immoral society all pull at her and force her to make a difficult decision. These forces would be banal in a standard film but Fellini chooses to visualize them as images and dreams. The dream sequences are nearly perfect and create a sharp sense of the hazy logic and unreality of dreams. Other comments (as well as our friend Maltin) have noted that the symbolic nature of the film is a detriment.
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This is true only if you are constrained by reality and demand that film adhere to the rules you have set down (or more likely had set down for you). Taking the journey with this film is well worth the time and effort. I hesitate to state that a male director has successfully penetrated the inner desires of a woman, but in this case I think Fellini has at least come close to the mark. A film to be looked at, talked about, and enjoyed again and again.
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10 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
Fantasy informing and transforming reality.
Author: Kara Dahl Russell from United States
10 April 2007
One of Fellini's most accessible films (his use of color really helps), he once again plays reality against an active fantasy life... fantasies that combine memory, fears, fleeting desires and the way we imagine the lives of others. For me, one of the things that makes a film 10 star is that it provides something that only film can provide, and this is it; while the presentation is very theatrical, this quick intercutting of time/memory/mood can only be done in film.
While the overall message is a very conservative (pre/anti-feminist) one of it's day, Fellini DOES liberate a woman's fantasy life, and this is the essence of his leading "little woman." The predominant action of the film is in her imagination. This was the day when middle/upper class Italian women did not work, and Masina represents the "good little woman." Rich enough to have servants, there was little to occupy her time or mind, other than similar friends who have veered to the outre and weird just to have something to do. Masina's character searches more internally, and her fantasies color her vision of the lives of others. (Note that her usual circle of friends are equated with a fantasy of death, and you'll be clued into her psyche as these begin.)
I think you have to have lived a bit to "get" Fellini - I didn't like his work when I was younger - I love this. Also note his use of color as "percieved color" not literal color and this is worth many viewings. And finally, if you are a larger woman... nothing makes you feel so great about being a large woman as watching Fellini's glorious Amazons!
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15 out of 23 people found the following review useful:
There are movies and there is Fellini!
Author: vdg from Vancouver, Canada
15 February 2004
No spoilers here, just a simple feeling that I have every time I see a FELINI movie: "There are movies and there is Fellini" This is an art film, as most of Fellini's movies, so I wont try to explain or comment anything on it, everybody has to have his own vision about the movie. Don't try to explain everything, don't try to see flaws in the screenplay, just take it the way it is: a beautiful fantasy. YES, it is very pretentious, if you don't like it or if you don't understand it that means this movies want not meant for you, but for the rest of us! The Criterion version of this movie is pure perfection, even though the 1 channel sound is not enough to get the full experience of this masterpiece. You'll love it or you'll hate it, there is nothing between!(Ben moi j'aime presque tout sauf Massina)
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5 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
35mm restoration, brilliant in color and Fellini style.
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Author: Melanie Ramsay from Chicago
9 August 2001
This is the first Fellini movie I ever saw and I just recently viewed the 35mm restored re-release. How beautiful. Fellini captures such wonderful dream-like sequences in brilliant color. Phenomenal! Every scene had such a distinct personality and mood to it. His blend of high and low key lighting, especially in the exposition carries the storyline.
Giulietta's associated score is disturbing yet intriguing. The wardrobe and makeup department must have had lots of fun on this film. If you have yet to see a Fellini movie, I suggest this one. A bit creepy, a bit weird, but nonetheless it has a purpose. A tight narrative.
