Snuck into a matinee showing at my local arthouse theater. Delightedly, they were showing this on a newly restored 35mm print that is touring the country. What a treat.

An absolute tour de force, every scene just brimming with life, passion, and Fellini’s careful eye. Scenes breathe and grow like well choreographed numbers as they’re pushed forward by one of the best ensemble casts I’ve ever seen. Purely ephemeral and entirely vulnerable in a way I’ve never experienced in film before. I knew this was foundational but I didn’t expect it quite like this. Autobiographical, funny, tender, clever, full of machinations; one of the most complete films I’ve ever seen.

Snuck into a matinee showing at my local arthouse theater. Delightedly, they were showing this on a newly restored 35mm print that is touring the country. What a treat.

An absolute tour de force, every scene just brimming with life, passion, and Fellini’s careful eye. Scenes breathe and grow like well choreographed numbers as they’re pushed forward by one of the best ensemble casts I’ve ever seen. Purely ephemeral and entirely vulnerable in a way I’ve never experienced in film before. I knew this was foundational but I didn’t expect it quite like this. Autobiographical, funny, tender, clever, full of machinations; one of the most complete films I’ve ever seen.

filmmaking and religion are the most fucked up elements in this movie. prolly need to rewatch this when i get able to step in Hollywood hills.

filmmaking and religion are the most fucked up elements in this movie. prolly need to rewatch this when i get able to step in Hollywood hills.

8½ isn’t a film you watch, it’s a mirror that refuses to flatter you.

Fellini doesn’t tell a story as much as he dissects the paralysis of creation, where every memory, every desire, every lie you’ve told yourself comes back demanding meaning. Guido isn’t just a director in crisis, he’s a man drowning in the weight of his own interior world, unable to separate what he feels from what he should make of it.

What devastates me is how honest it is about artistic confusion. Not the romantic kind, the ugly, suffocating kind where ideas collapse under their own importance. The film moves like a mind that can’t rest: dreams bleed into reality, past lovers into present guilt, fantasy into escape.

And yet, beneath all that chaos, there’s something strangely liberating. The realization that maybe there is no perfect film to make, only the acceptance of your contradictions, and the courage to continue anyway.

I didn’t feel like I discovered Guido Anselmi.
I felt like I recognized him.

8½ isn’t a film you watch, it’s a mirror that refuses to flatter you.

Fellini doesn’t tell a story as much as he dissects the paralysis of creation, where every memory, every desire, every lie you’ve told yourself comes back demanding meaning. Guido isn’t just a director in crisis, he’s a man drowning in the weight of his own interior world, unable to separate what he feels from what he should make of it.

What devastates me is how honest it is about artistic confusion. Not the romantic kind, the ugly, suffocating kind where ideas collapse under their own importance. The film moves like a mind that can’t rest: dreams bleed into reality, past lovers into present guilt, fantasy into escape.

And yet, beneath all that chaos, there’s something strangely liberating. The realization that maybe there is no perfect film to make, only the acceptance of your contradictions, and the courage to continue anyway.

I didn’t feel like I discovered Guido Anselmi.
I felt like I recognized him.

8½ is surreal, entertaining and a beautiful love letter to cinema. This is my first Fellini film and wow what a powerful start! Metacinema might just be my personal favourite genre of all time and my point is proved even further with 8½. As someone who draws on a regular, I can relate to when someone gets a "block". We are perfectly illustrated Guido's state of mind just by the opening scene which is a definite all-time best. The surreal imagery crafts a picture of his anxiousness, pressure and desperation to escape responsibility. As pressure builds, the narrative merges between reality and fantasy to a level where you can't tell a difference. I can't wait to watch more Fellini; I've already bought [](http://letterboxd.com/film/nights-of-cabiria/)Nights of Cabiria, so, depending when it arrives, that or [](http://letterboxd.com/film/la-dolce-vitta/)La Dolce Vita will be the next of his I watch. Tremendous!> "All the confusion of my life... has been a reflection of myself! Myself as I am, not as I'd like to be."

8½ is surreal, entertaining and a beautiful love letter to cinema. This is my first Fellini film and wow what a powerful start! Metacinema might just be my personal favourite genre of all time and my point is proved even further with 8½. As someone who draws on a regular, I can relate to when someone gets a "block". We are perfectly illustrated Guido's state of mind just by the opening scene which is a definite all-time best. The surreal imagery crafts a picture of his anxiousness, pressure and desperation to escape responsibility. As pressure builds, the narrative merges between reality and fantasy to a level where you can't tell a difference. I can't wait to watch more Fellini; I've already bought [](http://letterboxd.com/film/nights-of-cabiria/)Nights of Cabiria, so, depending when it arrives, that or [](http://letterboxd.com/film/la-dolce-vitta/)La Dolce Vita will be the next of his I watch. Tremendous!> "All the confusion of my life... has been a reflection of myself! Myself as I am, not as I'd like to be."

“ Because he doesn’t know how to love “
This movie is so amazing

“ Because he doesn’t know how to love “
This movie is so amazing