Achteinhalb (1963)

Achteinhalb: Directed by Federico Fellini. With Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimée, Sandra Milo. A harried movie director retreats into his memories and fantasies.

“Federico Fellini gets Marcello Mastroianni to play him. Yes. Right? Of course. The artistic block is something that Fellini dealt with all his life – Orson Welles once said that Fellini was a great artist with very little to say – thatu0026#39;s part of Mastroianni/Felliniu0026#39;s block – He knows where he wants to go but he doesnu0026#39;t know if he has what it takes to get there – then of course the the distractions or excuses whatever you prefer, they are muses, mothers, loves, wives. I was overwhelmed by the access Fellini provides to his own heart and mind and by the audacity and poetry of the film. 8 1/2 stands alone in the virtual mausoleum of world cinema.”