Films about films is a long established genre, going back at least as far as Buster Keaton. 8 1/2 is Federico Fellini's attempt to explore the difficulties of the creative process. Unfortunately, for me, the film is uninvolving and self indulgent, with inventive and surreal situations overwhelmed by stodgy pretentious dialogue and dull characters.
Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni), is a famous Italian film director (based on Fellini), suffering from writers block while working on a science fiction film. Struggling for ideas and with a messy private life involving his wife and mistress, he retreats into fantasies involving things like being hounded to death by the press or using a whip to keep his imaginary harem at bay.
There is little plot beyond that, which is fine in itself as strong narrative isn't the only way to tell a story. However, there is very little else to go with it. It's a character study of someone who seems to have little character, certainly little to engage the audience with. It's a film about film making, but by the end I felt I knew nothing about his creative process or struggles. Some of the surrealism is funny and surprising, but some feels forced and torpid.
Perhaps I'm missing something, as 8 1/2 has been praised repeatedly and regularly crops up as a favourite of both directors and critics, so it might be worth a second chance, but my main memory is the feeling of joy as the end credits appeared.
