Conversations with Fellini

by Costanzo Costantini

Besides creating groundbreaking films, Fellini was a born raconteur who loved giving interviews and creating fictive, often fantastic, versions of his biography. Here is a collection of in-depth... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0156004402
• ISBN13: 9780156004404
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Fellini's Martini

One might expect 200 pages of Fellini interviews to be just for the cinephile who has seen all his films-twice, but this intriguing and delightfully readable collection is a great appetizer about one of cinema's most influential and challenging directors-even for latent fans of film. The great advantage in this book is Costanzo Constantini's unique perspective as a journalist who interviewed Fellini regularly over 40 years. Constantini has been let into Fellini's life; they became friends, and this relationship often allows very relaxed, informal and sometimes revealing responses from Fellini. Even in interviews this man is a great storyteller, but Fellini confesses that some of the tales may be very tall. Without apology Fellini admits, "We change our accounts of events continually so as not to bore ourselves" (55). So, this non-fiction assembly of interviews soon becomes a bit of a mystery novel as one realizes s/he must sieve truth from fiction. Somehow this tendency of his isn't too distressing. One chalks it up to his innate cinematic flair or the love of, and talent for, a great story. There is no judging him harshly for this, since it makes for such delightful reading, and the truth is in there somewhere; it's just colorized, embellished and exaggerated for our enjoyment as well as his own. Even Constantini's first-hand account of a "marital-professional skirmish" between Fellini and Giuletta before a screening sounds almost scripted, a joust and good show for the audience. This climate of fibbing lends an almost comic slant to Constantini's section in which he asks this self-confessed exaggerator many, "Is it true that she said...?" and "Did you really say...?" kinds of questions. This may be Constantini's dry, playful intent, much like Fellini's sense of humor which is revealed throughout. The film student will enjoy Fellini's thoughts on Neorealism, and Catholicism. And of course there are his perspectives on his actors, collaborators, his films and the various circulating interpretations, but less of this than one might expect. The many tasty Fellini quotes on broad ranges of topics that Constantini serves become the highlights here. It's truly wonderful to behold his talent for succinctly capturing very ethereal ideas. On the special charm of cinema that's been robbed by TV's inundation: "The cinematographic image is deprived of its most profound meaning, its magical, dreamlike, mysterious quality. It is deprived of its secret charm, which takes its nourishment from the obscure relationship that each of us has with the unconscious" (132). Further revealing another angle of his genius, is the way he beautifully and effortlessly expresses the rare, rejuvenating sanctuary and exhilaration of creativity and returning to one's element, "Once, I arrived on the set with a galloping fever, but as soon as I looked through the lens it went away. When you're filming you feel like yourself again, a dir

A treat for foriegn film buffs!

A real treat with insight but mostly recommended for fans of Fellini,this book not only helps one understand some of the bases of this strange but incredibly unique filmmaker, it's also a very entertaining read. Among the highlights are his views on Bergman and Kubrick. It contains little talk about about the meaning of Fellini's films but for fans of him or world cinema - enjoy.