Fellini's thoughts about men-women relationships, genders' role in society, feminism, sexuality, types of men/women, etc translated into a big, slow, lenghty and often cryptic allegory.
The opening and closing scenes are especially funny but despite a dozen of brillant scenes (with the trademark scenographies directly from a circus of the surreal) the core of the movie is quite boring and uninspired. The writer/director wanted to include too much personal stuff, "original/important" philosophical views and still indulge into his hermetic style: as a result he lost touch with the viewer.
Furthermore these views - for what a lazy viewing might let me conclude - aren't that ahead of his time, let alone ahead of our time. Fellini as an artist - despite significant international success and an undeniably unique talent, sensibility and intelligence - formed, matured and got inspired mainly by local/italian topics/settings or - more precisely - universal topics seen from the POV/setting of an italian. Which obviously isn't bad per se, but carries a lot of cultural biases, especially cumbersome if the topics are feminism, genders' roles and sexuality. Therefore I don't really think Fellini's perspective on these themes - while possibly still more sophisticated than the average person in 2022 - is of any interest unless you're specifically interested in his own ideas. All in all I don't fell like suggesting to watch the film to anyone except the most hardcore Fellini fans.
The only unconditional plus comes from Donatella Damiani: among the countless women in the movie she stands out as unforgettably sexy with her voluptuous figure and mischievous attitude. I'm sure even Fellini was in love.
The opening and closing scenes are especially funny but despite a dozen of brillant scenes (with the trademark scenographies directly from a circus of the surreal) the core of the movie is quite boring and uninspired. The writer/director wanted to include too much personal stuff, "original/important" philosophical views and still indulge into his hermetic style: as a result he lost touch with the viewer.
Furthermore these views - for what a lazy viewing might let me conclude - aren't that ahead of his time, let alone ahead of our time. Fellini as an artist - despite significant international success and an undeniably unique talent, sensibility and intelligence - formed, matured and got inspired mainly by local/italian topics/settings or - more precisely - universal topics seen from the POV/setting of an italian. Which obviously isn't bad per se, but carries a lot of cultural biases, especially cumbersome if the topics are feminism, genders' roles and sexuality. Therefore I don't really think Fellini's perspective on these themes - while possibly still more sophisticated than the average person in 2022 - is of any interest unless you're specifically interested in his own ideas. All in all I don't fell like suggesting to watch the film to anyone except the most hardcore Fellini fans.
The only unconditional plus comes from Donatella Damiani: among the countless women in the movie she stands out as unforgettably sexy with her voluptuous figure and mischievous attitude. I'm sure even Fellini was in love.