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.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Conversation with Actor Mirko Frezza of David di Donatello Winner "Il più grande sogno"

The 2017 David di Donatello award show, which took place on Monday, was an exciting event that celebrated many great contemporary talents of Italian cinema.  I was fortunate to have seen most of the nominees.  Among my personal favorites  is Michele Vannucci's  Il più grande sogno  simply because it is based on one of the most inspiring, beautiful stories I've ever  heard, and the person behind that story is as authentic and down-to-earth as they come. The film won the 3 Future Award, which is determined by the public. With Director Michele Vannucci and Actor Mirko Frezza I first saw  Il più grande sogno last September when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival. I didn't make it to Venice, but thanks to a great online platform called Festival Scope , which offers a handful of premieres to be screened on the web, I felt like I was there. The film itself blew me away, and then when I realized it was based on a true story, I knew t...

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...

Golden Age Masterpiece: Luchino Visconti’s 1957 “White Nights”

Photo Credit: Archivio Luce Cinecittà Luchino Visconti’s 1957 film, “White Nights” (“Le notti bianche”), offers a thoughtful and poignant exploration of themes such as loneliness, desire and emotional vulnerability. Based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novella of the same name, it transports the tale from 19th-century St. Petersburg to a dreamy mid-20th-century Italian setting. While Visconti remains largely faithful to Dostoevsky’s narrative, his characteristic style infuses the film with emotional depth, striking visuals, and a focus on class and societal constraints.   The story follows a young man named Matteo, played by Marcello Mastroianni, who lives a solitary life in a small Italian town. One evening, he encounters a beautiful young woman named Natalia, portrayed by Austrian-Swiss actress Maria Schell, who is also feeling isolated. Although she is initially reluctant, Natalia eventually confides in Matteo about her love for a man who has promised to return and marry her, but he ha...

Director Gianni Di Gregorio explores relationships in later life with 'Never Too Late for Love'

In “Astolfo” (“Never Too Late for Love”), director Gianni Di Gregorio delivers a coming-of-age film for the golden years of life about a retired professor who leaves Rome to return to a tiny mountain village in Abruzzo. The film opens with the title character, played by Di Gregorio, walking through the streets of his Roman neighborhood, groceries in hand, only to find his landlord waiting for him when he arrives home. She is there to announce that he will have to vacate his humble residence to make way for her daughter, who is getting married soon.  After some contemplation, he calls his ex-wife to ask her about an old family castle he split with her in their divorce. When she confirms that a portion of the castle is his for the taking, he gleefully returns to his spacious new home only to discover it has been occupied by a squatter, who turns out to be an acquaintance from his childhood who is also down on his luck. Without hesitation, Astolfo adopts the man as his roommate. ...

The Sweetness and Genius of Giulietta Masina

Fellini and Masina on the set of "La Strada" As open-hearted and sunny as Federico Fellini was dark and complex, they were perfect counterpoints during a half-century of marriage and professional collaboration.  Nicknamed a  “female Chaplin” and described by Chaplin himself as  the actress who moved him most,  Giulietta Masina confronted the tragedy of her characters with an eternal innocence and enthusiasm that gave Italians hope in the most challenging of times.  Born in 1921 in San Giorgio di Piano, a commune north of Bologna, Masina was the oldest of four children born to a father who was a music professor and violinist and a mother who was a grade-school teacher. Her parents sent her as a child to live in Rome with her widowed aunt while she attended school there. As Masina took an early interest in gymnastics, her aunt saw in her a passion for performing and encouraged her to pursue acting. So after high school, Masina attended Rome’s La...