This is pointedly true in terms of how the escapism of showmanship collides so often with the drudgery reality, and how the two very different elements feed off of one another. Sometimes it’s exhausting, sometimes it’s euphoric- both for the viewer and for the characters, on stage and off. Throughout his impressive, varied, and controversial career, one of several themes that never quells is that of the perseverance of showmanship. 1950’s performer-centric Variety Lights, Fellini’s first film (co-directed with Alberto Lattuada), is also the first act in Criterion’s brand-new centennial career retrospective Blu-ray box set. (Bonus features, transfer quality, what lies ahead in the second installment of this review…)įor now, these are the Essential Fellini titles covered below:Īppropriately enough, it begins with a show. Following that, some information on the set itself. In this first of two installments devoted to unpacking the films contained in the record-album-sized square flat box, Fellini’s early-to-mid-career work is individually capsulized, intended to provide an efficient engagement with each title. The fifteen-disc/fourteen-film Essential Fellini (newly available for purchase) is the must-buy capstone in a year that’s included major new sets devoted to Bruce Lee and Agnes Varda, not to mention Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project Volume 3. For the venerated boutique label, 2020 has yielded multiple high-end boxed sets amid the usual steady stream of excellently curated diverse stand-alone releases. In a brutal year that’s been no less brutal to film buffs, Criterion has really come through. (Fellini was born January 20, 1920, in Rimini, Italy). Not only is it about time, it’s the perfect time- the 100th birthday of the director. Also included are Criterion newcomers Il bidone (1955), the vital short Toby Dammit (1968), and Intervista (1987), meaning that, in this one fell swoop, and once Kino Lorber releases Fellini’s Casanova in December, almost all of the filmmaker’s singular feature films will have come out on Blu-ray in North America (the stomping ground of this critic). All the heavy hitters- La dolce vita, 8 1/2, La strada, among others- are here.
Included are all of the Fellini titles that Criterion has ever released, many of which have not been previously made available on Blu-ray due to having been forced out of print for many years. Titles span from the start of Fellini’s career to quite nearly the end, covering all of his major thematic shifts and often wild creative phases. The fact that this set is far from complete in terms of Fellini’s films does not mean that it is not comprehensive. In other words, amid the mundane drain of the everyday, the circus of Federico Fellini is in town. Creative energy is on the menu, forcefully and unrestrained. The company of entertainers are moving in, the greasepaint is thickening, and libidos are boiling in step.
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