The Fellini Collection

The name Fellini conjures up the thought of some seriously heavyweight European cinema; difficult art-house with subtitles and serious themes and precious few laughs. If this set doesn't go some way to dispelling that myth then nothing will. Though I received just two of the three films for review, I suspect the missing disc (La Strada) would be every bit as enjoyable as the other two, if not more so. It's certainly the better known film or at least the only one that I'd heard of previously.

The White Sheik (1954)

'The White Sheik' is a great introduction to Fellini. It has all the humour and charm of a classic Ealing comedy and is sometimes laugh aloud funny. It was the first full feature length film that he had directed all on his own (though he had contributed greatly to Rossellini's earlier films with scripts and boards).




A slightly bewildered looking and self important civil servant (Ivan played by Leopoldo Trieste) takes his naive young bride (Wendy played by Brunella Bovo) to Rome for their honeymoon and a brief audience with the Pope, along with 200 other couples. He also has some influential relatives that he is keen to impress as he thinks they may be able to smooth the path for even greater success in public office. It's not as if his young bride disagrees with his plans, but more a case of her having her head in the proverbial clouds. She is entranced by the giddy romance promised by her favourite photo-romance magazine, which by coincidence has its offices just minutes away from the hotel she finds herself in. So when Ivan decides to have a brief nap before the day's exertions, she steps out in an attempt to meet 'The White Sheik' for a few moments, and be back by the time her husband awakes. Things don't quite go to plan.



What follows are two separate but hilarious strands to the same tale. As she gets drawn into the world of photo-romance (a popular magazine form of the day where photos were used with captions to tell a story) , poor Ivan is left to make excuses to his relatives whilst desperately searching the city, and getting himself in equally deep water along the way.



What's best about The White Sheik is in many ways 'The White Sheik' himself (Alberto Sordi); a sleazy middle aged Italian man dressed up in exotic garb and acting like a young Rudolph Valentino, despite having a large and brutish wife never far from the action. Sensing the young bride's adoration he sets about taking full advantage of it, playing the part of the Sheik as only a hammy old sleaze-ball could. He steals a boat at a photo-shoot and, taking her with him, he makes his move, bringing the something of the cold reality of what is actually happening to the young girl. To add to her indignity, the so-called Sheik's wife is waiting at the shore's edge ready to deliver another and very literal blow.



Lessons about fidelity and naivety are learned along the way and all ends well.

There is a fleeting appearance by Fellini's muse and wife, Giulietta Masina, who stars in the other two films in this set.
The audio is presented in original mono (with a pleasant Nina Rota score). Picture is in original 1.33:1 and it's a good transfer with little sign of wear and a very pleasant looking monochrome.



Though The White Sheik may not be considered by critics as Fellini's finest hour, and could hardly be considered Neo-Realist, it is, in my view, a very fine comedy with all the right ingredients for a diverting Sunday afternoon.

There are a few useful extras on the disc that are very informative too.



There is a brief documentary featuring two interviewees entitled: 'Fellini's White Sheik and Other Stories'. Featuring Charlotte Chandler, a personal friend of Fellini's and one of his biographers, and Peter Bondanella, author of 'The Cinema of Ferderico Fellini'. They trace Fellini's transition from cartoon drawing funny man and script writer through to one of cinema's most respected directors.
There's another brief featurette called: 'Fellini's Collection at Lilly Library' which shows details of some of the manuscripts housed at Indiana University's rare books library. These include script manuscripts for La Strada as well as cartoon illustrations for a film that we never made, entitled 'La Famiglia' (The Family). There are also plenty of sketch books which betray a very visual eye and the precise thinking that preceded filming. All interesting stuff.

Then there's Guillietta's secret spaghetti sauce recipe which she divulged to Charlotte Chandler after Fellini's death. She claimed that this was the 'love potion' that she fed her husband of fifty years. Fellini told Chandler that it was the one secret she refused to share in their long marriage!

Finally there is a photo gallery, and a text based filmography for Fellini (sub-categorised into Director / Writer) as well as a brief text based biography. There is also a filmography for actor Michaelangelo Antonioni.




Nights of Cabiria (1957)
In contrast to The White Sheik, 'Nights of the Cabiria' is a very much deeper film. Whilst there is plenty of comedy here, Fellini seems to deliberately tread the tight-rope between surreal comedy and tragedy, often alternating between the two within moments. An Oscar-winning movie, it really helped establish Fellini as a force to be reckoned with and remains an influential film to this day.

By all accounts, the version you get here is the self-same one as the Criterion edition, with the banned 'Man with the sack' scene reinstated. (This was a scene where a man with a sack is delivering food and blankets to cave dwellers which was deemed unsuitable for release as it showed Rome in a bad light). Fellini's wife, Giuletta Masina stars in this film about an eternally optimistic prostitute who is a ball of energy (touches of Doris Day's Calamity Jane here...) and who dreams of a better life. What we experience with her are a series of cruel disappointments, culminating in the cruellest of them all, an almost unbearable ending which I won't divulge here.



The film opens with a startling scene where we see Carbiria running hand in hand with a young lover towards a lake. When they arrive at the water's edge, the lover grabs her handbag and pushes her in despite the fact that she cannot swim. When she is revived by some passersby, she is ungrateful and angry; inconsolable yet determined to better her life.

She then meets a glamorous film star who, having just had a tiff with his beautiful girlfriend, invites Carbiria to a club and then his own home. But before they can make love the girlfriend returns and Carbiria finds herself back on the streets. As she searches for meaning and purpose in her life she seems thwarted at every turn.



There's no doubt that Giulietta Massina has comic talent. But she also has the ability to turn it upside down in a moment in a heart-breakingly believable way bringing incredible depth and pathos to the film. It's a credit to both she and her husband that, despite what appeared to be gross nepotism (with Fellini casting his own wife in the main role) that she turns in such an incredible and moving performance. It's almost unimaginable that anyone else could have played the part - though curiously, Bob Fosse re-worked the narrative for his movie 'Sweet Charity' some years later.



Again, this is a first class transfer (in original 1.33:1) and the audio is perfectly adequate. For non-Italian speakers, the subtitling is first class and despite rapid fire dialogue, is easy enough to keep up with.



There is only one extra on the disc; an extensive interview with Italian cinema expert Phil Kemp who puts 'Nights' into social and political context, claiming it was perhaps the last of Fellini's neo-realist films. He would later spend more time exploring the breadth of his own psyche and imagination that with the gritty realities of everyday life.



Overall

In terms of the 'La Strada' disc, I can make no comment as I only received check discs of the other two discs. It would appear from the press release that the disc contains a documentary about Giulietta Masina, as well as a full audio-commentary though if this is important to your buying decision, this may be worth double checking.

Overall this is a splendid set and a great introduction to one of Cinema's most influential film-makers. If, like me, your only experience of Fellini is the wonderful 'La Dolce Vita' (which was made immediately after 'Nights of Carbiria') then this is a great way to see the legendary and Oscar winning 'La Strada' as well as these two excellent editions. Recommended.