GIVING THE GIFT OF FELLINI FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Earlier this year, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston held a 35mm screening of Federico Fellini’s 1973 coming-of-age opus “Amarcord.” The screening was held on the Italian filmmaker’s 100th birthday. (Fellini passed away in 1993 at age 73.)
It was also at this screening that the museum announced that a centennial retrospective of Fellini’s films would be coming later in the year. This would give local cinephiles an opportunity, whether they’re young and/or new to Fellini’s work or older moviegoers who want to see his films again, an opportunity to see his classic films on the big screen.
And then, COVID-19 happened. “Of course, it was truly one of the disappointments of all the things that had to be canceled or postponed,” says MFAH film curator Marian Luntz. “As we know, we were very naive then and thought this will not last that long, and we’ll just reschedule for later in the year. But it was obviously a domino effect and, at this point, we are hoping to present the retrospective — to reschedule it in person — I would say in the second half of next year.”
Earlier this month, the MFAH still managed to hit audiences with a little bit of Fellini. A new 4K restoration of “La Strada,” the 1954 film that stars Giulietta Masina (aka the director’s wife) and Anthony Quinn and went on to win the first-ever Oscar for best foreign language film in 1957, briefly played over at the museum’s Virtual Cinema.
But even though the retrospective won’t come around these parts until next year doesn’tmean you can’t have all the films in your very hands. This week, the Criterion Collection released “Essential Fellini” ($199.96), a Blu-ray box set featuring 14 of themaestro’s legendary films, from “La Dolce Vita” to “8½” to “Fellini Satyricon” to, yes, “Amarcord.” (11 of the films also have brand-spanking-new, 4K restorations.)
Truth be told, Criterion has previously released Fellini films throughout its 37-year history, either on laser disc, DVD or Blu-ray. In fact, you can find many of these on the Criterion Channel streaming service. But this set has 14 discs (as well as a bonus disc: the 1997 documentary “Marcello Mastroianni: I Remember”), along with a guide to all the films and a book of essays featuring pieces written by such filmmakers as Michael Almereyda (“Tesla”) and Kogonada (“Columbus”).
Basically, this set is crack for international-cinema junkies, especially those who adore Fellini and Italian cinema. Alessandro Carrera, professor and Italian studies director at the University of Houston, adores Fellini so much, he wrote a book on the man, titled “Fellini’s Eternal Rome: Paganism and Christianity in the Films of Federico Fellini,” in 2018. (He signed copies of that book at the “Amarcord” screening, where he also did the introduction.)
“I started teaching classes on the history of Italian film and, more and more, I focused on Fellini,” says Carrera. “I kept finding new things every time I watched one of his classic films, from ‘La Strada’ to ‘8½’ to ‘La Dolce Vita’ to ‘Amarcord’ and many others. … I started watching the Fellini films as if they were one very long film — but only one, which is, in many ways, the way Fellini wanted these films to be seen. Because he repeated all the time that he was always making the same film. Well, that is true, but I would say, not necessarily, he was making the same film. He was making one film — one film that ends at a certain moment and begins again with the next film.”
This box set serves as both a comprehensive collection of a filmmaker’s work and an exotic getaway. Fellini’s films have always been lavish looks at Italian culture, full of eccentric characters that include hopeful, head-in-theclouds protagonists and bosomy, bountiful women. For Fellini, what’s real and surreal doesn’t matter — life will always be a dream. And considering the hellish year we’ve been through, we need to get taken away to a time and a place more wondrous and dreamlike.
And even if you spend the holidays dipping into this box set, both Carrera and the MFAH hope you swing by the museum next year to catch Fellini’s films on the big screen — as well as celebrate his 100th birthday. “It’s OK, because Fellini’s not limited to his centennial,” says Carrera. “He will be here again, so we can just wait a few months and celebrate in the best way.”