Juliet of the Spirits

I was 15 years old when I stumbled into a cinema and caught my first Fellini film -- Juliet of the Spirits. I was so jazzed, wowed and bedazzled by it, I'm sure I went back a few more times. It led me to other Fellini films and, since, he's become my favorite film director.

Though at age 15, I shouldn't have been able to relate very well with this story of an Italian middle-aged woman and her crumbling psyche (what with her failing marriage, her unsympathetic relatives and her repressive childhood), the movie made me care about this woman and showed me sights on film that I'd never seen before.

Masina (Fellini's wife), in her performance, has nearly everything to do with making Juliet's story meaningful, even to a teenaged boy in California. The character's thoughts flash, unspoken, across her face. Her fear, her

bemusement, her insecurities--all are writ in italics and I had no trouble empathizing with Juliet.

Fellini, though, makes the film an occasion to witness how far the medium can go in bringing alive a person's inner life. The weird and awful power of (subjective) memory, the dream state, the spectres of loneliness, betrayal and Catholic mythology: all these and more overtake the screen, dominate the imagery and play the antagonists to Juliet who, as seen by the other "real" characters in the story, is just a simple, loving housewife and neighbor. Juliet finally has to face her demons and either vanquish them or go mad. By the end of the film, we know most of her demons, where they came from, whom they represent and what they mean. What an accomplishment!

In a clinical setting, Fellini dropped LSD around the time he concocted this film. That may be one reason the movie is so psychedelic. This also was his first feature in color. The music is unforgettable. Costumes should have won the Oscar, but that honor went to "Man for all Seasons".

Incidentally, I've bought and viewed the DVD of this movie. It's quite washed-out and not as good as an available VHS letterboxed version.

I'll always miss Fellini, but am so grateful that he was able to make this film and over a dozen others.

Fellini casts his real-life wife, Guilietta Masina, as Guilietta - an upper middle class housewife whose life is coming apart. The film's plot serves a vehicle for some of the most dazzling, psychedelic scenes ever put on film, all before anyone used computer graphics to make cinema more fantastic. Fellini uses costumes, makeup and, most of all casting of supporting actors and extras, to achieve his surrealism.

His first film is color, this is Fellini's most Felliniesque movie.

Juliet, a plain (relatively speaking) woman (Giulietta Masina) finds the will to leave her philandering husband through strange visions and the weird sybaritic lifestyle of her neighbour Suzy (Sandra Milo). As much as I like Giulietta Masina, I didn't like this film as much the earlier neo-realist work she did with husband Federico Fellini, such as the superb 'La Strada' (1954). I am not a big fan of the flamboyant grotesqueries in which Fellini indulged himself in the 60s (although there are some striking images (both in dreams and in reality) in this film such as the parade on the beach or the strange recurring row of nuns). As usual, Masina, with her beautifully expressive face, is irresistible and although I didn't really like the film, I am glad I watched it.

This is the first Fellini movie I ever saw and I just recently viewed the 35mm restored re-release. How beautiful. Fellini captures such wonderful dream-like sequences in brilliant color. Phenomenal! Every scene had such a distinct personality and mood to it. His blend of high and low key lighting, especially in the exposition carries the storyline. Giulietta's associated score is disturbing yet intriguing. The wardrobe and makeup department must have had lots of fun on this film. If you have yet to see a Fellini movie, I suggest this one. A bit creepy, a bit weird, but nonetheless it has a purpose. A tight narrative.

Really sort of the female counter part to 8 1/2, It had the same sort of dream/memory/fantasy narrative, and the same sprawling dialogue and humor, the biggest difference was this was about relationships and sexual repression and freedom, had a female lead and was in technicolor, which Fellini really makes great use of, it adds a kelidoscopic psychedelic feel to the whole movie. There really are some amazing visuals and all the dialoge is superb. Though I guess its not so much a female 8 1/2 as it is a caricature of a marriage during the sexual revolution , but it's still a funny and poignant one. Great performances and memory dialog; the sexual revolution as a circus.