Most films take objective
narration as a basis
from which subjective depth is
explored. Fellini’s 81/2 mixes objectivity and subjectivity in more complex ways.
In fact “Fellini was able to extend his symbolisms into a narrative that
alternates between the exterior and interior worlds of the protagonist Guido
without warning, presenting an integrated reality of past and present -- even
the future, perhaps -- but within the usual beginning, middle and end narrative
structure.” (Bordwell,
Thompson) Here the structuring of
events is not just a
matter of what action takes place in the plot. The
internal logic of the narrative is more important than what viewers like to
construct chronologically.
The superficial narrative structure “concerns itself with pre-production stage of a film that is abandoned before shooting starts. The director is at a medical spa hotel trying to work out the script for his
next movie – a sci-fi tale.
At the hotel, he is
confronted with a series of encounters
of a personal and
professional nature. With
him is his writer,
consistently scolding him. Later he is joined by his mistress as well as his producer and entourage. His wife
arrives and finds about the
mistress. His mental state detoriates up to the point where he loses all
interest. These events are directly presented to us in the plot. However this sequence of events would be totally insufficient to present
us Guido’s mental subjectivity. Therefore different flashbacks, fantasies,
hallucinations and dreams are included to guide us to the depths of our
protagonists mind.
Popularity
of 8 ½ stems from the fact that it doesn’t follow the conventions of the
classical Hollywood cinema. It doesn’t try to conceal the act of
filmmaking itself by
presenting a highly self-conscious examination of cinematic and
narrative technique. “In
classical Hollywood movie time is subordinated to the cause–effect chain in a
host of ways.” (Bordwell,
Thompson) The plot will omit significant durations in order to show only
events of causal importance.
But here we have nothing of that type. We can probably cut and paste different
flashbacks without ruining the whole thing. Most crucially, fantasy
sequences give us
information about Guido’s
traits, fears, and obsessions
which partly coincide with Fellini’s traits. Therefore we are obliged to infer
most of what Fellini is constructing through assumption and imagination.
Us,
viewers look for cause and effect in any
type of events, be it real or imaginary, film or music. In most movies character is the main causal
factor in the overall story. 8 ½ is no exception to this, but with a “little”
nuance. Flashbacks usually present us with objective
narration. “They are
usually motivated as mental subjectivity, since the events we see are triggered
by a character’s recalling the past.” (Bordwell, Thompson) However we are unsure about objectivity of most
flashbacks and flash-forwards presented in 8 1/2.
The film opens in a dream sequence as the
director suffers claustrophobia in a traffic-jammed car while passengers in other cars impassively watch the process or look away. Guido floats
high into the sky and when we look down a man is holding a kite-rope
attached to Guido’s leg.
In
many movies “causal motivation often involves the planting of
information in advance of a scene.” (Bordwell, Thompson) Fellini suggests straight away that he along with us will embark
on a journey with a man
who has been trying to escape
slow death and stagnation he feels himself to be in.
We infer that causal chain here is investigation of a specific object
or attainment of a goal, but some kind of revelation or enlightenment. Similar to this the
film plays with viewer
expectations from the start. Guido,
staying in a line to
get some mineral water,
sees a beautiful lady. Viewers
are intrigued by the woman. Guido is as well. He walks towards her, and she disappears right away.
First scene
is clearly distinguishable as a fantasy because in a subsequent scene Guido
wakes up from his dream. However, succeeding scenes blur the line between
reality and fiction to such an extent that we stop trying to decipher these
distinctions. The apogee of this wishful thinking is the harem scene
where Guido rules a house occupied by all of the women he met, loved, desired in his life. This alternate world is a pure invention which seem like a nondiegetic
material. On the other hand these fantasies are part of the whole narrative fabric.
In
one of the flashbacks he sees himself in his childhood. He remembers hurtful experiences with catholic priests which probably mirrors Fellini’s
childhood. This is probably the earliest story event of which we learn from flashbacks. The story goes beyond the plot in suggesting some
diegetic events that we never witness. We infer that little Guido was raised through a
strict and unforgiving Catholic upbringing. We also learn that his mother was
devoutly religious woman and attending church was a duty - a dreadful
experience for young Guido. Catholic dogmatism towards sexuality and self
expression is what shapes his youth as well as his subsequent future. Guido’s recollections
of his sexual education
are cast as a parallel to his encounters
with his mistress. Moreover we
deduct that his promiscuous lifestyle stems in part as a reaction to stifling
childhood education.
As
I have mentioned previously the basic narrative structure is presented in a
chronological order filled
with flashbacks, dreams, and fantasies. However, the dream world of reality
and fantasy which merges the
past, the future, and the present all at once robs us of the possibility of constructing a temporal relationship of
story events. Guido sees everything through his own rose tented glasses. Sometimes he consciously manipulates
his imagination through half fantasies and half recollections. In a
dream his mother kisses him on the mouth and when she pulls her head away, it is his wife. When his writer
talks too much, the he irritatingly lifts a finger
in command, two people
suddenly appear and hang
him right away. These fantasies completely blur the
line between reality and dreams, diegetic and nondiegetic materials. The
present, the past, and fantasies
are mixed beyond comprehension. He
is incapable to leave this world he has created for himself. Thus, structure of his mind, its
classifications and categorizations - the internal logic of his imagination –
is much more relevant here.
In one of
his childhood visions,
we see him in his
family's house, being
washed and carried off to bed in clean sheets in his nurses' arms. We see that he’s been spoiled by women
since his childhood. We
understand that his self-importance and egotism prevents him from connecting
with anyone and will doom him eventually.
Along with
flashbacks there a extensive use of parallelisms here. There are four main archetypes
of women in Guido’s life. Two are with him – his wife and mistress. His wife is
chic and intellectual as opposed to his mistress who is simple and fun. Former
provides stability while the latter gives warmth. Third one is in a memory while
the other is a wishful imagination until her appearance in the latter part of
the movie.
Guido's mistress, Carla, is comparable to La Saraghina. Carla
emits many of the
characteristics attributed to La Saraghina such as openness, sexuality, lack of guilt and shame. As it was 30
something years ago this tempts Guido in his adult life. Appearing to Guido only through fantasy for most of the film is his ideal
woman, who is embodied by young actress who is calm, beautiful, warm, and uncritical. She provides pleasure
without any responsibility from his side. She serves
Guido’s every desire – a “perfect”
woman. When he finally meets her she is nothing like he had imagined.
At
the end of the movie there is a press conference
after which Guido gives
up on his film and decides to commit suicide.Crawling under the table where he was sitting, like we saw him do in a one childhood memory
sequence, Guido pulls a handgun out of his pocket. This parallelism from different parts of his
life reminds us about his lifelong urge to escape from judgement and
confinement. After that Guido looks out from his car and we see that his car’s windows are
open unlike the opening
sequence. Now Guido is more receptive and open to the possibilities of real
freedom.
Here is a film centered around one persons imagination. At first Guido seems like a character narrator but that quickly escapes the movie. He is a
very unreliable narrator, but we have no one else. The film is feels like a free description
of human consciousness
as well as its sub-consciousness.
It might be directors or Guido’s or maybe of both. Pure realism tries to convey
reality objectively by presenting only events that seem “certain” and “real”. But how
much can we gather from events by looking from outside? Can we remove all
artifice from events to create a realistic portrait? Most of our reality is
pretty subjective and we construct our memories by in a bounded, limited way. We
compare, we contrast, and we infer things. However, there are no objective
standards to compare. The
difference between subjectivity and
objectivity is extremely
difficult to portray, even difficult to understand. Fellini doesn’t care
about events; he cares only about Guido’s mind. It is done without the use of a very common technique - a
voice narration. The whole
variety of images,
sounds, and emotions are being used to substitute a narrator.
In classical Hollywood movie the filmmaker tries to resolve all of the issues at the close unlike 8 ½ which has a
relatively open,
less satisfactory ending. In a romantic imagination Guido is able to
get all the people he knows
onto a rocket launching pad. We see the biggest piece of symbolism here embodied by the massive
structure which brings
the imagery of the Biblical Tower of Babel - mankind’s and
Guido’s opportunity to
escape this place called earth. After
abandoning the pad,
they all join hands,
forming a large circle. Guido joins hands with his wife and they together join the circle. The circle could symbolize his resignation or
his realization that
problems need not to be solved
all the time.
"Happiness," Guido muses late in the film,
"consists of being able to tell the truth without hurting anyone." That
virtue eludes Guido's
writer, who tells the him
his film is "a series of complete senseless episodes," and
"doesn't have the advantage of the avant-garde films, although it has all
of the drawbacks." In the end Guido as a character has not changed much nor showed any signs of
emotional breakthrough . This contradicts the traditional concept of a
story.
If the mark of modernism in art is “self-consciousness or self-reference,
that run across all the novelties in the arts and the disciplines” (Everdell, William), 8½
goes beyond any movie I’ve
seen in retrospection
and reflexivity. Seems
like the film that is being made in 8½ is 8½ itself. Scenes with
the screen tests are for roles in the film are the strongest indicators of this hypothesis. We perceive stories
with start and conclusion only by cutting it out of temporal and causal
structure. That way we construct meaning and causation. By rejecting this traditional narrative structure of Hollywood films, Fellini
makes “8 ½” practically inseparable
from his reality.
Bibliography:
Bordwell,
Thompson - Film Art, An Introduction,
2008
Everdell, William - The First Moderns: Profiles in the Origin of
Twentieth-Century Thought, 1997
