I, Fellini

by Charlotte Chandler

Book Overview

Forged from the many conversations Charlotte Chandler conducted with the director of La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, and La Strada over the course of fourteen years, I, Fellini is a portrait of one of Italy's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679440321
• ISBN13: 9780679440321
• Release Date: October 1995
• Publisher: Random House (NY)
• Length: 419 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Best Fellini Bio

There are, as far as I can tell, 3 major substantial Fellini biographies. Each one brings something different to the table. One is written by Tullio Kezich, who was a film critic and friend of Fellini. What's best about this book is how Kezich places each film in the context of its time, how it was received by the audiences. As he was a critic, we get a lot of information from that point of view. Personally, I found John Baxter's Fellini biography to be a more interesting read. Baxter is more likely to report on some unfavorable things about Fellini that Kezich, as a friend of Fellini, would not, especially regarding Fellini's marriage. Baxter also reveals many interesting details regarding scenes that were cut from Fellini's films. Further, he includes loads of details regarding the financial deals involving Fellini's films. Lastly, and I feel most importantly, there is "I, Fellini" by Charlotte Chandler. In my opinion, I think it's rather dubious of Chandler to claim an author credit for her book. She recorded conversations with Fellini over the course of 14 years and used them to edit together this book, essentially creating a Fellini autobiography. (So an "edited by" credit would be more accurate, imo, but this is a minor nitpick.) Though she does write a very detailed final chapter dealing with the last year of Fellini's life, probably 95% of this book is Fellini speaking in his words. For this, I place this book as the most essential Fellini book. You get him discussing more or less everything here, including his thoughts and ideas on the film projects that he never got to make. (Also invaluable to understanding Fellini is his own "Making A Film", "Comments On Film" "Fellini on Fellini", & Liliana Betti's "Fellini, An Intimate Portrait".) I can only echo the comments of the other reviewer here. This book was exceptional in every way. Fellini runs down nearly everything you could ever want to know about the man. From his childhood to his films, Guilietta, his eating habits, his dreams, his insatiable desire to work and create, his thoughts on other film makers, and much more. I was only about a quarter of the way through the book, when I started wishing that this book would never end. He discusses nearly every film he made, some in more detail than others. And most interesting to me, he talks about many ideas he had for films that he always wanted to make (G. Mastorna, Don Quixote, Pinocchio, etc.). This book is absolutely essential for the Fellini fanatic. I have a stack of other Fellini related books to get through, but I can't imagine any could be as good as this.

A remarkable insight to the #1 genius of film in the century

This book was written with love over 14 years of friendship. Fellini speaks all, and I mean everything about his life in the movies. Charlotte Chandler records and organizes interviews with the director so that the entire piece (except one little chapter at the end) is Fellini talking to a friend, and the reader becoming that friend. I believe this to be the most beautiful biography ever written about Fellini. A touching and profound book that any film lover, and for that matter, any artist wouldn't want to miss