Fellini's Juliet of the Spirits

Juliet of the Spirits - 1965

"For 8 1/2, I wanted to do a polydimensional portrait of a man. For Juliet of the Spirits, I am getting closer to what interests me. The cinema is the unique and perfect tool to explore with precision the inner landscapes of the human being. I've always wanted to do an extrasensorial tale, born entirely of the imagination. This should be it."

---Federico Fellini

Fellini's 1963 masterpiece, 8 1/2, was (arguably) an autobiographically inspired work. When Juliet of the Spirits arrived it aroused much of the same controversy. "Is this based on the Fellini marriage?" critics asked. In fact, the films star, Giuletta Masina, is Fellini's actual wife. Autobiographical or not, Juliet of the Spirits showcases many of Fellini's recurring cinematic themes; complex viewpoints, subjective shots turning into objective shots, dream sequences that reveal character and the fixation on long parades of characters. The dream sequences show a representation of what Juliet is thinking and feeling.

This is Fellini's first film in color, and he uses it to paint the film on the screen. Color is a character in this film. Consider how some characters are presented at various times with a completely unreal color to their face. This is intentional, taking the viewer in and out of reality and waking fantasy.

Juliet, the main character, is a shy, chain smoking, romantically naive housewife. The movie utilizes quick cutting scenes and a nervous tempo to show Juliet's disordered state of mind. Her neighbor is the flamboyant Suzy (Sandra Milo), who is Juliet's personality opposite. As Juliet is drawn to Suzy's company, she is tormented by it as well.

At one point, Fellini doesn't show us Juliet's face until her husband, Giorgio, steps into her presence. Symbolically, she doesn't exist outside of her husband. Juliet knows he is a philanderer but emotionally she cannot become Juliet.

Roger Ebert and others consider this movie to be the beginning of the decline of Fellini's mastery of filmmaking. I'm a big Ebert fan but I disagree. This is the first Fellini film I saw and remains my personal favorite.

It is hard to imagine anyone who has seen Juliet of the Spirits will ever forget the images and the sets, costumes and color. The sheer beauty of this movie is the movie.

 

Related posts:

Fellini's 8 1/2

 

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