Skip to main content

Federico Fellini's Impact on Woody Allen

A scene from Woody Allen's "Stardust Memories"

 Tonight I watched the film, "Woody Allen: A Documentary." I was not expecting a connection to Italian cinema but since one usually ends up presenting itself, tonight was no different.

A scene from Federico Fellini's "8 1/2"
The documentary brought up the similarities between Allen’s "Stardust Memories" and Federico Fellini’s "8 ½." These are films that I saw 20+ years ago when I was young and exploring the masters of cinema. I found both films fascinating but I believe that I was too young to understand the complexities of them. My memory recalls their visual aspects- the zany characters and faces and a strong sense of the surreal. In "Woody Allen: A Documentary," Allen himself talks about the impact that Fellini had on his career. Although I've seen just about every film that Allen has made, I didn’t realize how strongly Fellini influenced his work. After watching this film, and yesterday by coincidence, Ettore Scola’s 2013 "How Strange to Be Named Federico," I can see similarities not only in their work but also in their unique personalities, their curiosities about life and mortality and their undeniable comic genius that catapulted each of them to success.
Ettore Scola directs his grandson, Tommaso Lazotti, as a young Fellini
“Fellini loved driving and he treated his insomnia by taking his friends out in turns for midnight drives: true and tried kidnappings. He’d pick up drunks, compulsive liars, dethroned princes, even a few streetwalkers.. out of curiosity, out of an uncontrollable love for life. And with him, that car became a confessional booth. Life was a party, he loved to say, so why not live each moment as one?”  I really enjoyed this line in "How Strange to be Named Federico." Many of the scenes take place in a car driving around Rome. Through the windows, you can see the landmarks, the fountains, the piazzas and of course, the Romans. Rome was to Fellini what New York City is to Allen- a metropolitan muse. Speaking to that muse, Fellini’s "La Dolce Vita" was Allen’s "Manhattan" just like Fellini’s "8 ½" was Allen’s "Stardust Memories." Furthermore, Scola says "The White Sheik" inspired Allen's 2012, To Rome With Love .


"Woody Allen: A Documentary"
The qualities I feel are the strongest between the two filmmakers are taking an average character and putting him into a completely surreal fantasy world, the diversity of stories ranging from comedy to love to tragedy and the strong presence of the muse in their work- For Fellini, it was Marcello Mastroianni and Giulietta Masina, his wife of 50 years, the city of Rome and the Romans. For Allen it was (in the '70s and '80s) Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow- with whom he had relationships, the island of Manhattan and New Yorkers. It is noted in Scola’s documentary that “Fellini adopted Mastroianni as an ideal alter-ego in his main films. In fact, he took better care of him than he did himself: forcing physical exercise and diets on him that he himself never did”. In Allen’s documentary, he talks about his closeness with Keaton and how her friendship gave him the ability to see life from a woman’s perspective.

Ettore Scola and Federico Fellini
The biggest difference I see in their work is how uncomfortable Fellini felt in front of the camera whereas Allen is a total ham and comes alive. Scola recalls how “it took many car rides and convincing to get Fellini to play himself in Scola's 1974 ensemble masterpiece, "C'eravamo tanto amati" (We all loved each other so much). When he did finally accept the offer, it was on the condition that he wouldn’t be filmed from behind, “so no one sees my bald spot”.
Another aspect of these masters’ films that I appreciate is their way with music and how it's a protagonist of its own- for me most notably in Allen’s opening scene of "Manhattan" with Gershwin’s "Rhapsody in Blue"...  


... and Fellini’s closing scene of "8 ½" with Nino Rota’s "La passerella"..


On that note, Scola, also a master screenwriter and director, beautifully ended "How Strange to Be Named Federico" with Rota’s signature circus-like melody in a collage of powerful images from his films with Alberto Sordi and Mastroianni. It reminded me of the equally beautiful scene from John Huston's 1952 "Moulin Rouge" in the very final moments of artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's life when that signature can can music plays with the images of his friends and muses. 
With each of these scenes, I was struck by an explosion of nostalgia which made me ponder the great question of Woody Allen and the reoccurring theme of his films, why can’t life be eternal? Surely we are not eternal, but one thing is for sure.. the magic of cinema.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Federico Fellini: A Look into the Life and Career of an Icon

A Fellini family portrait  “The term became a common word to describe something on the surface you can say is bizarre or strange, but actually is really like a painter working on a film,” said Martin Scorsese when asked to define “Felliniesque,” an adjective inspired by one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. The oldest of three children, Federico Fellini was born in the seaside town of Rimini in 1920. His father was a traveling salesman, so his mother was left to do the bulk of raising the children. One can argue that Fellini was born for his destiny. “You could tell that even as a child, he was different and unique. He was very intelligent, well above average. He was always the one to organize things, direct the others, make up games. He could control the other kids with just a look, said Fellini’s sister, Maddalena, in an interview with journalist Gideon Bachmann.  Not only was Fellini directing the children, but he was also putting on shows and charging ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Timeless Talent of Stefania Sandrelli

On screen since the tender age of 14, she has captivated audiences for more than 50 years with a compelling combination of strength and vulnerability. She achieved stardom at just 14 years old playing the angelic cousin of a love-struck Marcello Mastroianni in Pietro Germi’s “Divorce Italian Style.” More than half a century later, she is still going strong and remains one of Italy’s most esteemed actors. Stefania Sandrelli was born on June 5, 1946, in Viareggio in the province of Lucca in northern Italy. As a child, she studied music and dance. Then in 1960, she won a beauty pageant and was featured on the cover of Le Ore magazine. Her purity captivated the country and shortly thereafter, movie offers began pouring in. Just one year later, she made her cinema debut in three feature films: Mario Sequi’s Gioventù di notte , Luciano Salce’s The Fascist, and Pietro Germi’s Divorce Italian Style . She instantly became a star and before long was a key figure in Italy’s legend...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Anthology Film Archives Presents: The Italian Connection: Poliziotteschi and Other Italo-Crime Films of the 1960s and '70's

June 19 – June 29 Influenced both by 1960s political cinema and Italian crime novels, as well as by French noir and American cop movies like "Dirty Harry" and "The French Connection," many Italian filmmakers in the late-60s and early-70s gradually moved away from the spaghetti western genre, trading lone cowboys for ‘bad’ cops and the rough frontier of the American west for the mean streets of modern Italy. Just as they had with their westerns, they reinvented the borrowed genre with their inimitable eye for style and filled their stories with the kidnappings, heists, vigilante justice, and brutal violence that suffused this turbulent moment in post-boom 1970s Italy. The undercurrent of fatalism and cynicism in these uncompromising movies is eerily reminiscent of the state of discontent in Italy today. ‘The Italian Connection’ showcases the diversity and innovation found in the genre, from the gangster noir of Fernando Di Leo’s "Caliber 9" ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Riccardo Scamarcio Joins Cast of "John Wick 2"

Update to our original January 18 post.. - According to the Hollywood Reporter, the follow-up to John Wick has been given an official title — John Wick, Chapter 2 — and a release date from Lionsgate: Feb. 10, 2017. It's just been reported that Keanu Reeves is in Rome shooting his new film, "John Wick 2" with Italian actors Riccardo Scamarcio and Claudia Gerini . The film is an action-thriller and sequel to "John Wick". Shooting began last October in New York City. John Wick, played by Reeves, is a hitman that comes out of retirement to seek vengeance for the theft of his vintage car and the killing of his puppy, a gift from his recently deceased wife. The scenes being shot in Italy for the sequel reportedly take his career to the international level.  Riccardo Scamarcio One of Italy's most recognizable faces, Riccardo Scamarcio has built a solid career based on the diversity in the roles he chooses and the intensity with which he plays the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Gianfranco Rosi to premiere 'Sotto le nuvole' at Venice Film Fest, exploring Naples' history

Documentary filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi will premiere his much-anticipated latest film at the upcoming 82nd Venice International Film Festival , which runs August 27 - Sept. 6. "Sotto le nuvole" (Below the Clouds)  takes a deep dive into the rich history and culture of Naples and the area surrounding Mount Vesuvius. There has not been much information revealed but so far, we know that the film will focus on themes similar to those explored by Rosi in his previous works, such as the examination of Roman culture in "Sacro GRA" (2013) and Lampedusa's refugee crisis in "Fuocoammare" (2016).  The film's synopsis reads, “The land around Vesuvius is a vast palimpsest. On the surface, underground and even beneath the sea of the modern city of Naples and its surroundings, the memory of history is etched into tunnels, walls and fissures, the remains of women, children and men — statues, buried cities. Only thin layers separate contemporary and ancient life, an...
Post a Comment
Read more