8½ story
8+1⁄2 (Italian title: Otto e mezzo, pronounced [ˈɔtto e mˈmɛddzo]) is a 1963 Italian surrealist comedy-drama film directed by Federico Fellini. Co-scripted by Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano, and Brunello Rondi, it stars Marcello Mastroianni as Guido Anselmi, a famous Italian film director who suffers from stifled creativity as he attempts to direct an epic science fiction film. It is shot in black and white by cinematographer Gianni Di Venanzo and features a soundtrack by Nino Rota, with costume and set designs by Piero Gherardi.
10 total · 2 choice · 6 major · 2 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| filmmaking | choice | The story concerned a famous director and his struggle to overcome a writer's block in order to complete a film. He was hounded by producers and actors. |
| psychological stress | choice | Guido was under a lot of pressure both to produce a film despite his block, and from his love interests. |
| escape from reality | major | Unable to cope with all the pressure, Guido escapes into remembering his childhood and having surreal dreams involving his parents and other people. |
| husband and wife | major | Guido and Luisa. |
| man and mistress | major | Guido and Carla. |
| reminiscence about one's youth | major | Guido frequently dreamed about various things that happened to him as a young boy. |
| romantic infidelity | major | Guido was married but had a mistress. |
| what is perfection | major | Central to the story is Guido's ambition to make a film that is "pure" and "honest", as well as his notion of an "Ideal Woman". |
| Christianity | minor | Guido remembered days as a Catholic school boy, including confession, and later met with high ranking clergy. |
| coping with aging | minor | A young actress was outraged that she had to "go upstairs" just because she was past a certain age. |