Italian
director, scriptwriter and actor Federico Fellini is considered
one of the most original and visionary artistic talents of
our time. More than any other director, he was consistently
able to convey life's realty by the very surrealistic means
of his work. Notwithstanding that he emerged in a period of
Neorealism, the eccentricity of his characters and the sense
of the absurd sparking his comedies distinguished him as an
artist from the very beginning. He was always somewhere apart
from other directors with whom he worked, such as Roberto
Rossellini with whom he collaborated on scripts, and Vittorio
De Sica. Fellini gradually shifted his focus from social problems
to man and his individualism, abandoning himself at times
to the autobiographical.
His films present a world populated by solitary beings
with a burning need to communicate their way out of eternal
and mutual incomprehension. Born in Rimini in 1920, he transferred
to Rome as a young man. Before
the outbreak of the WW2, he put together a radio sketch with
actor Aldo Fabrizi, and met the woman with whom he would share
his life: Giulietta Masina. With Fabrizi's help, he entered
cinematography, working on various melodramas between 1939
and 1944. Not until 1945 did the doors of fame and fortune
open for the two friends: and they met Roberto Rossellini.
Fellini signed the screenplay which was the basis of a huge
international success, Roma Città Aperta. Eight years
later, he came out with his first masterpiece, I Vitelloni.
La dolce vita in 1960, guaranteed his place
on the Mt. Olympus of film, alongside his leading man and
alter-ego on film, the great Marcello Mastroianni. Initially,
Fellini's crude portrayal of 1960's Roman high-society caught
between sensuality and hypocrisy created a scandal. Yet the
film began to win prizes and accolades from diverse sources,
the Golden Palm at Cannes, for example. This success was followed
by an Oscar for 8 1/2, the autobiographical account of a director's
life, played by Mastroianni, and Giulietta degli Spiriti
in 1965.
In
1974, the great man presented another autobiographical film,
Amarcord, woven of his dreams and memories. The finished
tapestry depicts is a return to the source, to the roots,
where simplicity is transformed into the purest kind of magic
and even hatred is blurred by nostalgia.
Filmed entirely at Cinecittà, even the settings abroad, the
film is quite an accomplishment. The title stems from an expression
in the dialect of Rimini: A'mar'còrd, or in straight
Italian mi ricordo: I remember.
Hidden behind this misty illustration of adolescence, the
film contains Fellini's harsh criticism of the political regime
of the day; more than that, however, it denounces the people
who chose to submit.
In the U.S., the film broke box office records and received
countless awards and honors. It even won an Oscar for Best
Foreign Film and two nominations for
Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. He also received
a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Film.
Fellini was struck by a cerebral seizure on August 3, 1993
at his beloved Grand Hotel in Rimini. He later died of complications
on October 1st at Rome's Policlinico hospital.
Italian
director, scriptwriter and actor Federico Fellini is considered
one of the most original and visionary artistic talents of
our time. More than any other director, he was consistently
able to convey life's realty by the very surrealistic means
of his work. Notwithstanding that he emerged in a period of
Neorealism, the eccentricity of his characters and the sense
of the absurd sparking his comedies distinguished him as an
artist from the very beginning. He was always somewhere apart
from other directors with whom he worked, such as Roberto
Rossellini with whom he collaborated on scripts, and Vittorio
De Sica. Fellini gradually shifted his focus from social problems
to man and his individualism, abandoning himself at times
to the autobiographical. 
Before
the outbreak of the WW2, he put together a radio sketch with
actor Aldo Fabrizi, and met the woman with whom he would share
his life: Giulietta Masina. With Fabrizi's help, he entered
cinematography, working on various melodramas between 1939
and 1944. Not until 1945 did the doors of fame and fortune
open for the two friends: and they met Roberto Rossellini.
Fellini signed the screenplay which was the basis of a huge
international success, Roma Città Aperta. Eight years
later, he came out with his first masterpiece, I Vitelloni.
In
1974, the great man presented another autobiographical film,
Amarcord, woven of his dreams and memories. The finished
tapestry depicts is a return to the source, to the roots,
where simplicity is transformed into the purest kind of magic
and even hatred is blurred by nostalgia. 
for
Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. He also received
a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Film.