1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:00:12,580 --> 00:00:14,949 WE APOLOGIZE TO THE AUDIENCE 4 00:00:15,050 --> 00:00:17,419 FOR THE QUALITY OF SOME IMAGES 5 00:00:17,519 --> 00:00:20,255 TAKEN FROM CUT OR UNRELEASED MATERIAL 6 00:00:20,355 --> 00:00:22,457 DUE TO DEFECTS IN THE ORIGINAL VIDEOS 7 00:00:24,225 --> 00:00:29,764 I remember that the first signs of the film 8 00:00:29,864 --> 00:00:34,169 came from a small piece of news that had struck me, 9 00:00:34,269 --> 00:00:37,572 regarding the funeral of a famous singer. 10 00:00:37,672 --> 00:00:42,110 She had asked to be cremated, 11 00:00:42,210 --> 00:00:44,612 and had left instructions in her will 12 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:47,749 concerning the ritual to scatter her ashes. 13 00:00:47,849 --> 00:00:49,718 This news had captured my attention. 14 00:00:49,818 --> 00:00:51,720 We spoke about it with Tonino Guerra, 15 00:00:51,820 --> 00:00:55,890 and after starting off on a labyrinthine, chaotic path, 16 00:00:55,990 --> 00:00:58,960 we gradually managed to bring the story into focus. 17 00:00:59,060 --> 00:01:04,632 The script took a very short time to write, just a couple of weeks. 18 00:01:04,733 --> 00:01:06,768 How was your relationship with Tonino Guerra? 19 00:01:06,868 --> 00:01:11,005 Excellent. We're on the same page. I had already made Amarcord with him. 20 00:01:11,106 --> 00:01:13,308 We've known each other for 40 years. 21 00:01:13,408 --> 00:01:16,544 We work together 22 00:01:16,644 --> 00:01:20,849 in a very complementary and free way. 23 00:01:20,949 --> 00:01:24,319 There are no problems. 24 00:01:24,419 --> 00:01:26,654 I've mostly had good relationships with writers. 25 00:01:26,755 --> 00:01:28,757 - First of all because... - He's from your area. 26 00:01:28,857 --> 00:01:31,860 No, besides Tonino, I meant more in general: 27 00:01:31,960 --> 00:01:35,029 with Flaiano, Pinelli, Bernardino Zapponi, Brunello Rondi. 28 00:01:35,430 --> 00:01:39,100 - I've always had very— - Is it also a relationship of complicity? 29 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:43,438 Yes, our complicity comes from allowing ourselves to be plunged, 30 00:01:43,538 --> 00:01:45,373 consciously or maybe not, 31 00:01:45,607 --> 00:01:51,379 into a vaguely Vitelloni-like after-school atmosphere. 32 00:01:51,479 --> 00:01:52,580 Like having to do homework. 33 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:56,251 We tackle things with a rather boorish and shrewd attitude, 34 00:01:56,351 --> 00:01:58,553 just trying to get them done, one way or another. 35 00:01:58,653 --> 00:02:04,459 This vague atmosphere, which I find to be nurturing and not inappropriate, 36 00:02:04,559 --> 00:02:09,097 is what turns the relationship into a form of playful friendship. 37 00:02:09,197 --> 00:02:11,666 Therefore, working is no longer just a job. 38 00:02:11,766 --> 00:02:15,703 I never manage to build a definitive screenplay. 39 00:02:16,604 --> 00:02:19,874 This is also because, having worked for many years as a screenwriter, 40 00:02:19,974 --> 00:02:22,777 and having written many scripts before becoming a director, 41 00:02:23,745 --> 00:02:27,715 I have the ambition and presumption of being able to fix things on the spot, 42 00:02:27,816 --> 00:02:33,421 even if I start production on a film without having a fully defined script. 43 00:02:33,822 --> 00:02:37,992 There comes a time in which I need to start looking the film in its face. 44 00:02:38,092 --> 00:02:40,228 FELLINI RACCONTA 2 - DIARY OF A FILM 45 00:02:43,798 --> 00:02:48,403 AND THE SHIP SAILS ON 46 00:02:49,637 --> 00:02:50,872 FELLINI TO STARBOARD 47 00:02:50,972 --> 00:02:54,175 The anticipated announcement came unexpected in Cinecittà's Stage 5, 48 00:02:54,275 --> 00:02:57,612 this time Fellini and his ship are hoisting the anchors. 49 00:02:57,712 --> 00:03:00,181 ...a certain relevance on a personal level too. 50 00:03:00,281 --> 00:03:05,353 I'm getting on in years. I've turned 60, so — 51 00:03:05,453 --> 00:03:07,055 - Is today the 13th? - Yes. 52 00:03:07,155 --> 00:03:10,925 Great! Everything is following the most catastrophic signs! 53 00:03:12,594 --> 00:03:17,131 No less than seven sets will be used to reconstruct the famous ship. 54 00:03:17,232 --> 00:03:21,035 The huge boilers of the engine room are almost full-scale. 55 00:03:22,170 --> 00:03:25,840 Powerful pneumatic hammers support a large platform 56 00:03:26,174 --> 00:03:28,877 where the central hall of the ship is built: 57 00:03:28,977 --> 00:03:31,546 thanks to an electronic device, 58 00:03:31,646 --> 00:03:33,948 these hammers will help simulate the oscillation and rolling 59 00:03:34,048 --> 00:03:35,583 of the steamship on the waves. 60 00:03:45,193 --> 00:03:48,997 None of the characters who populate the ship will be played by famous actors. 61 00:03:49,097 --> 00:03:50,765 There's a specific reason for this. 62 00:03:50,865 --> 00:03:52,500 None of them are celebrities. 63 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:56,537 I made this choice deliberately. 64 00:03:57,171 --> 00:03:58,907 As the film tells a story 65 00:03:59,007 --> 00:04:03,044 which supposedly took place more than one hundred years ago, 66 00:04:04,045 --> 00:04:08,816 I thought that, since it's the story of people who have disappeared, 67 00:04:08,917 --> 00:04:12,053 on whom we have no more information, since they've all turned to dust, 68 00:04:12,420 --> 00:04:16,557 unknown faces could increase a sense of curiosity 69 00:04:16,658 --> 00:04:18,626 and return these characters 70 00:04:19,127 --> 00:04:23,131 to their dimension as unknown people who have vanished. 71 00:04:25,466 --> 00:04:28,436 The story emerges slowly. 72 00:04:28,836 --> 00:04:31,639 Finally, Fellini explains the sense of the film. 73 00:04:31,739 --> 00:04:36,344 "Today," says the director, "we live in a world of hyper-information, 74 00:04:36,444 --> 00:04:38,012 and this world conditions us." 75 00:04:38,112 --> 00:04:41,849 I think the heart of the film, the sense of the film refers 76 00:04:42,317 --> 00:04:47,522 to the need to subconsciously desire a piece of news 77 00:04:47,755 --> 00:04:50,191 concerning an event so... 78 00:04:52,226 --> 00:04:54,329 immense and devastating, 79 00:04:54,429 --> 00:04:59,000 that we can hope for it to provoke some kind of reaction within us. 80 00:04:59,100 --> 00:05:02,370 Naturally, the film doesn't have such an apocalyptic tone. 81 00:05:02,470 --> 00:05:06,040 It's a very funny, comical and adventurous story. 82 00:05:06,140 --> 00:05:08,276 I also hope it will be fun for the audience, 83 00:05:08,376 --> 00:05:11,446 even if its heart aims 84 00:05:11,546 --> 00:05:15,583 to expose a theme that I think concerns us all. 85 00:05:16,017 --> 00:05:18,319 We start in two days' time, in an outdoor set, 86 00:05:19,287 --> 00:05:23,124 built in a space in the Tiburtino area... 87 00:05:24,158 --> 00:05:27,862 where we will try to recreate 88 00:05:27,962 --> 00:05:30,498 the Port of Naples from one hundred years ago. 89 00:05:30,765 --> 00:05:34,335 Out of the shot! Clear the area. Come on. Action! 90 00:05:47,582 --> 00:05:51,319 The long delay in beginning work on this film 91 00:05:51,419 --> 00:05:54,655 is due to the fact that Italian cinema in general 92 00:05:55,256 --> 00:05:59,060 is going through quite a dramatic and deep crisis. 93 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:04,065 Therefore, this project was also affected by the delays... 94 00:06:05,433 --> 00:06:09,837 stagnation and resistances of a situation that involves cinema as a whole, 95 00:06:09,937 --> 00:06:11,773 not this film in particular. 96 00:06:12,106 --> 00:06:15,676 I am the glorious victim of myths and legends 97 00:06:16,277 --> 00:06:20,848 for which I thank my friends in the press. I mean that sincerely, without irony. 98 00:06:20,948 --> 00:06:22,950 Some claim that I don't talk about the film 99 00:06:23,051 --> 00:06:24,952 because I don't know what I'm making. 100 00:06:25,286 --> 00:06:28,356 On the contrary, Fellini is well aware of what he wants to do. 101 00:06:28,756 --> 00:06:31,492 However, he's usually very mysterious. Why is that? 102 00:06:31,592 --> 00:06:36,297 My tendency to resist revealing or talking about my films 103 00:06:36,697 --> 00:06:39,067 isn't the result of vanity 104 00:06:39,167 --> 00:06:42,470 or a desire to provoke despair in my friends, the journalists. 105 00:06:42,570 --> 00:06:46,574 It isn't skillfully designed to create a feeling of curiosity 106 00:06:46,674 --> 00:06:50,311 or suspense about the film. 107 00:06:50,411 --> 00:06:54,282 It's a resistance related to very profound reasons. 108 00:06:54,382 --> 00:06:58,953 I feel as if I'm invited to gossip, to snitch 109 00:06:59,053 --> 00:07:03,191 and provide information about something I don't yet fully know, 110 00:07:03,291 --> 00:07:05,293 something that has every right to remain 111 00:07:05,726 --> 00:07:09,030 in a more private and intimate dimension. 112 00:07:09,430 --> 00:07:11,032 It makes me feel indiscreet. 113 00:07:13,201 --> 00:07:14,202 Come forward. 114 00:07:15,470 --> 00:07:16,471 Smile. 115 00:07:17,605 --> 00:07:19,006 Move away. 116 00:07:20,341 --> 00:07:21,442 Come forward. 117 00:07:24,479 --> 00:07:26,547 Smile, they're taking your photograph! 118 00:07:28,249 --> 00:07:29,784 Put your hands on your hips. 119 00:07:30,118 --> 00:07:32,687 Smile. Look backwards. 120 00:07:32,787 --> 00:07:35,456 Look here again. Smile. 121 00:07:35,556 --> 00:07:38,793 Now go very slowly. 122 00:07:39,093 --> 00:07:41,295 Look straight ahead. Smile with joy. 123 00:07:41,395 --> 00:07:43,531 Go on, take him away. 124 00:07:45,266 --> 00:07:48,236 No. You're giving away that he's coming. You shouldn't. 125 00:07:48,336 --> 00:07:50,905 - When I feel him grab me. - No, later! 126 00:07:51,005 --> 00:07:55,042 You shouldn't look when he comes near. You should be smiling! 127 00:07:55,143 --> 00:07:57,612 - Alberto, come here! - It's Attilio! 128 00:08:00,681 --> 00:08:01,949 Did you do a good job? 129 00:08:02,517 --> 00:08:04,886 This is how you must grab him, okay? 130 00:08:04,986 --> 00:08:08,122 You don't like talking about the story before the film is released — 131 00:08:08,222 --> 00:08:09,590 I'm unable to do so faithfully. 132 00:08:09,690 --> 00:08:14,829 The relationship between creator and creation is very secret and intimate. 133 00:08:14,929 --> 00:08:16,964 - And fragile. Delicate. - Yes, fragile. Delicate. 134 00:08:17,064 --> 00:08:21,202 It's constantly placed in doubt, repudiated. 135 00:08:21,302 --> 00:08:23,404 It can suddenly turn dim and disappear. 136 00:08:23,504 --> 00:08:28,743 One morning, you feel that your film won't greet you. It turns its back on you. 137 00:08:29,143 --> 00:08:31,879 On other mornings, it meets you festively. 138 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:36,517 What does "telling a story" mean? A story is nothing. It's merely a story. 139 00:08:36,851 --> 00:08:42,190 It's revealing the feelings behind the story that embarrasses me. 140 00:08:42,290 --> 00:08:45,726 It makes me feel embarrassed, but also totally reluctant and resistant. 141 00:08:45,993 --> 00:08:47,962 Therefore, I prefer to make up another story. 142 00:08:48,296 --> 00:08:50,598 I often do this with my friends in the press. 143 00:08:51,165 --> 00:08:52,900 But then I feel bitter, because I realize 144 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,037 that the story I made up is better than the one I'm working on. 145 00:09:34,909 --> 00:09:35,710 Pull it up! 146 00:09:35,810 --> 00:09:37,878 Careful with the tubes. Okay. 147 00:09:37,979 --> 00:09:40,014 - Action, Vittorio! - No, no! Wait a moment! 148 00:09:40,114 --> 00:09:41,782 Look over here. Smile. 149 00:09:42,550 --> 00:09:46,087 Raise your head as soon as you put your hand on the ship's wheel. 150 00:09:48,055 --> 00:09:49,523 I've brought a camp kitchen. 151 00:09:49,624 --> 00:09:53,594 I must say that, of all the stages a film goes through 152 00:09:53,694 --> 00:09:56,831 before its actual production, 153 00:09:56,931 --> 00:10:00,201 casting is the most torturous, 154 00:10:00,301 --> 00:10:03,671 despite being the most fascinating: 155 00:10:04,705 --> 00:10:08,709 in the end, a face must carry the sense, 156 00:10:08,809 --> 00:10:10,978 the message, the story. 157 00:10:11,946 --> 00:10:14,682 In this film, more than others, 158 00:10:15,049 --> 00:10:18,419 the need to choose with extreme precision 159 00:10:18,519 --> 00:10:21,322 was particularly present: 160 00:10:21,422 --> 00:10:23,391 you see a series of faces, 161 00:10:23,758 --> 00:10:26,627 and you give each of them — 162 00:10:27,695 --> 00:10:31,699 Your imagination assigns them a story, 163 00:10:31,799 --> 00:10:34,702 situations, feelings, tics, 164 00:10:35,303 --> 00:10:38,639 without actually knowing if they're exact. 165 00:10:38,973 --> 00:10:42,943 This film aims to restore in the viewer 166 00:10:43,044 --> 00:10:46,380 the mysterious and ineffable charm transmitted by photography. 167 00:10:46,914 --> 00:10:49,817 If you browse through a photo album of people you don't know, 168 00:10:49,917 --> 00:10:53,688 especially if they are dead people, from the previous century, 169 00:10:54,088 --> 00:10:56,257 you're immediately pervaded, 170 00:10:56,357 --> 00:11:00,728 attracted by interest in stories that you don't know, 171 00:11:01,095 --> 00:11:04,565 but are hinted at by the face, 172 00:11:04,665 --> 00:11:06,967 the attire, the attitude. 173 00:11:07,068 --> 00:11:10,538 Going back to these characters, the cast includes some members, 174 00:11:10,638 --> 00:11:15,076 like Peter Cellier and Barbara Jefford, who are excellent English theater actors, 175 00:11:15,176 --> 00:11:18,612 highly experienced and capable of going from Shakespeare to... 176 00:11:19,547 --> 00:11:21,482 - To Fellini. - ...to Fellini! 177 00:11:21,582 --> 00:11:24,585 Other cast members aren't actors at all. 178 00:11:24,685 --> 00:11:26,354 They're people you found in Naples. 179 00:11:26,454 --> 00:11:27,855 What issues do you face 180 00:11:27,955 --> 00:11:31,025 when working simultaneously with great professionals 181 00:11:31,125 --> 00:11:33,561 and people who can barely mutter a word? 182 00:11:34,462 --> 00:11:38,532 I must confess I've never had issues with actors. 183 00:11:38,632 --> 00:11:41,602 If a character has been chosen 184 00:11:41,702 --> 00:11:44,438 according to what a face expresses, 185 00:11:44,905 --> 00:11:47,708 and that's the face of an actor, that's good, 186 00:11:47,808 --> 00:11:51,812 as we can enjoy a professional relationship and understanding. 187 00:11:52,346 --> 00:11:56,450 Sometimes, it's also easier to explain the needs of a character to an actor. 188 00:11:57,385 --> 00:12:00,488 If it's not an actor, but just the character, 189 00:12:00,588 --> 00:12:02,590 perhaps, in a certain way, that's even better: 190 00:12:02,690 --> 00:12:06,560 he'll move with his own autonomy and spontaneity. 191 00:12:07,294 --> 00:12:11,198 Therefore, I leave that margin... 192 00:12:14,034 --> 00:12:16,203 for spontaneous expression 193 00:12:16,837 --> 00:12:20,441 which I believe is the essential condition 194 00:12:20,908 --> 00:12:26,380 for characters, initially conceived on a cold page of the script, 195 00:12:26,714 --> 00:12:31,519 to rediscover the personal and unpredictable elements 196 00:12:31,619 --> 00:12:34,555 each human being bears within itself, 197 00:12:34,655 --> 00:12:37,324 making it a unique and unrepeatable type. 198 00:12:37,892 --> 00:12:39,326 I deeply admire actors. 199 00:12:39,427 --> 00:12:45,065 Ever since I was a child, I envisioned actors as semi-divine beings. 200 00:12:45,166 --> 00:12:48,068 The first time I understood what actors were, 201 00:12:48,602 --> 00:12:51,105 I thought they lived in the magical dimension 202 00:12:51,205 --> 00:12:54,408 beyond the theater curtain: 203 00:12:54,508 --> 00:12:59,213 in those lights, environments, strange gardens, 204 00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:01,649 or living rooms, or mansions. 205 00:13:02,149 --> 00:13:04,785 I also thought they remained dressed up even after the show. 206 00:13:05,252 --> 00:13:08,589 I can explain this fantasy with the fact that I was six or seven. 207 00:13:08,689 --> 00:13:10,090 Maybe even younger. 208 00:13:10,658 --> 00:13:13,093 I thought their faces were of different colors, 209 00:13:13,194 --> 00:13:16,197 their eyes were longer and their eyebrows were blacker. 210 00:13:16,297 --> 00:13:18,065 They had curls and wigs, 211 00:13:18,165 --> 00:13:19,900 and extraordinary voices: 212 00:13:20,301 --> 00:13:22,870 I thought they were supernatural beings, 213 00:13:22,970 --> 00:13:29,443 to the extent that I identified them with their character. 214 00:13:29,543 --> 00:13:31,445 And this still conditions me. 215 00:13:31,545 --> 00:13:34,482 So I think that in the evening, after shooting, 216 00:13:34,582 --> 00:13:35,683 they're still the character. 217 00:13:35,783 --> 00:13:37,318 Or maybe their life stops, 218 00:13:37,418 --> 00:13:41,322 and they're deposited like worn clothes 219 00:13:41,422 --> 00:13:44,859 in a hotel room wardrobe, ready for collection the next day, 220 00:13:44,959 --> 00:13:47,928 when production vehicles will take them to the theater 221 00:13:48,028 --> 00:13:51,165 and they'll be returned to life as the spotlights are lit. 222 00:13:51,732 --> 00:13:53,934 Scene 34/13, first take! 223 00:13:54,668 --> 00:13:57,304 Slowly look at the hand, Fiorenzo. Smile. 224 00:13:57,671 --> 00:13:58,739 Take it. 225 00:14:03,110 --> 00:14:06,280 Fiorenzo, slowly lower your head while smiling. 226 00:14:07,581 --> 00:14:09,183 Lower your head, and smile. 227 00:14:09,283 --> 00:14:11,785 Look at the hand, Fiorenzo. 228 00:14:12,586 --> 00:14:13,821 Smile. Take it. 229 00:14:15,089 --> 00:14:16,257 Good, that's it. 230 00:14:17,358 --> 00:14:18,826 That's good. 231 00:14:20,361 --> 00:14:25,266 This film attempts an apparently anti-cinematic operation: 232 00:14:25,366 --> 00:14:30,638 to avoid the pre-fabricated novel, a story planned beforehand. 233 00:14:30,971 --> 00:14:34,375 Preparing an original script is naturally indispensable, 234 00:14:34,475 --> 00:14:39,613 not just to gain a clear view of the story you want to tell, 235 00:14:40,047 --> 00:14:41,949 but also for organizational matters. 236 00:14:42,049 --> 00:14:45,719 You're well aware that materializing that which inhabits 237 00:14:45,986 --> 00:14:49,924 the foggy and chaotic sphere 238 00:14:50,558 --> 00:14:52,459 of imagination, 239 00:14:52,826 --> 00:14:56,297 is an advanced mathematical operation. 240 00:14:57,231 --> 00:15:02,469 It requires absolute precision. It's like sending a missile into orbit. 241 00:15:02,570 --> 00:15:07,608 Not that I'm trying to cast a legendary and romantic halo 242 00:15:07,708 --> 00:15:10,144 on the working of creativity. 243 00:15:10,811 --> 00:15:14,882 Careful over here! Spray the walls! 244 00:15:14,982 --> 00:15:18,452 Go on! Slightly less! Go! Be careful over there! 245 00:15:18,852 --> 00:15:21,388 Ready? Go! 246 00:15:21,655 --> 00:15:23,324 No more smoke! 247 00:15:24,425 --> 00:15:25,392 No more smoke! 248 00:15:25,492 --> 00:15:29,063 Now focus on the water! 249 00:15:30,531 --> 00:15:32,032 Go with flames over there! 250 00:15:34,702 --> 00:15:35,936 Up front, here! 251 00:15:36,036 --> 00:15:41,041 We need to prepare it a second before shooting! 252 00:15:44,912 --> 00:15:46,580 In the end, for this film, 253 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:50,851 I chose to use well-known music: 254 00:15:50,951 --> 00:15:54,421 the music of great classical composers, 255 00:15:54,521 --> 00:15:57,024 and opera in particular. 256 00:15:57,124 --> 00:15:59,760 The film features music by Verdi, Rossini, 257 00:16:00,728 --> 00:16:04,298 Tchaikovsky, Bellini, Schubert. 258 00:16:05,099 --> 00:16:09,136 In my total ignorance of musical matters, 259 00:16:09,536 --> 00:16:14,708 I went searching for the striking and indestructible emotions, 260 00:16:15,142 --> 00:16:20,714 whether seductive or saddening, 261 00:16:21,015 --> 00:16:23,517 I have received from music over the course of my life. 262 00:16:23,617 --> 00:16:27,321 So this film features all the musical pieces 263 00:16:27,488 --> 00:16:32,559 I listened to as a defenseless child, an adolescent, and later on in life. 264 00:16:32,626 --> 00:16:34,128 Camera! 265 00:16:34,895 --> 00:16:36,664 Serious faces, okay? 266 00:16:37,097 --> 00:16:38,866 Can you hear me? When I say "Action!" 267 00:16:38,966 --> 00:16:42,469 you count one, two, three, and then you look down. 268 00:16:42,703 --> 00:16:44,438 And keep smiling. 269 00:16:45,239 --> 00:16:47,541 Scene 29/24, first take! 270 00:16:48,575 --> 00:16:52,613 Sea movement. Playback. 271 00:16:53,814 --> 00:16:55,816 Go with the ship! 272 00:16:56,250 --> 00:16:57,518 Motion! 273 00:16:59,186 --> 00:17:02,389 Sea motion. Stop there. 274 00:17:28,549 --> 00:17:30,417 During these long months of preparation, 275 00:17:31,285 --> 00:17:34,588 I enjoyed the possibility of discovering 276 00:17:34,688 --> 00:17:37,491 something a viewer of the film may not imagine: 277 00:17:37,591 --> 00:17:42,029 the immense work that you — 278 00:17:42,129 --> 00:17:44,698 I don't know if other directors do this, 279 00:17:45,399 --> 00:17:49,903 but you work on every tiny detail composing the picture of your film. 280 00:17:50,003 --> 00:17:52,606 I believe, perhaps a little emphatically, 281 00:17:52,706 --> 00:17:58,679 that cinema is an art that shares the same needs as other arts. 282 00:17:58,779 --> 00:18:03,984 You'd never tell a writer, "I'm surprised you insert the adjectives yourself, 283 00:18:04,084 --> 00:18:07,020 the adverbs, the apostrophes, the full stops." 284 00:18:07,121 --> 00:18:09,289 You're not letting the editor or typographer — 285 00:18:09,389 --> 00:18:11,625 As if these things could be left to others! 286 00:18:11,725 --> 00:18:16,630 You wouldn't ask a painter if he added the green parts of a painting himself. 287 00:18:16,730 --> 00:18:20,667 For example, I saw that when you needed some armchairs for a scene, 288 00:18:20,768 --> 00:18:25,672 you asked for one armchair in particular to be remade many times. 289 00:18:26,106 --> 00:18:31,445 Each time, you found it too small or that its backrest was too low. 290 00:18:31,945 --> 00:18:38,652 Of course. Cinema, differently than writing or painting, 291 00:18:39,086 --> 00:18:43,023 has a need for greater realism, 292 00:18:43,423 --> 00:18:45,826 because the characters move and speak. 293 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:48,829 In cinema, a gunshot is an actual detonation. 294 00:18:48,929 --> 00:18:50,430 It makes you jump. 295 00:18:50,998 --> 00:18:54,902 If you write, "The gun fired. A shot was heard," 296 00:18:55,002 --> 00:18:57,371 the reader will hear the shot 297 00:18:57,471 --> 00:18:59,473 within a sphere 298 00:18:59,573 --> 00:19:04,912 where he receives the expression and interiorizes it, dilates it. 299 00:19:05,012 --> 00:19:09,316 But in cinema, a gunshot is an explosion. It makes you jump. 300 00:19:09,750 --> 00:19:11,185 Or someone on an armchair — 301 00:19:11,285 --> 00:19:14,655 So I'm speaking of the need to be expressive, 302 00:19:14,755 --> 00:19:17,491 in the expressionist sense of the word, 303 00:19:17,591 --> 00:19:21,128 allusive, yet at the same time quite concrete, credible. 304 00:19:21,695 --> 00:19:26,200 The episode you're referring to, which also makes me a little embarrassed, 305 00:19:26,300 --> 00:19:30,304 as this armchair story makes me feel like a furniture builder, went as follows: 306 00:19:30,804 --> 00:19:33,473 this library needed large armchairs, 307 00:19:33,574 --> 00:19:38,679 suitable for welcoming a reader's meditations. 308 00:19:38,779 --> 00:19:41,281 And we're speaking of readers from a hundred years ago. 309 00:19:41,381 --> 00:19:44,985 That armchair needed to be the armchair. 310 00:19:45,085 --> 00:19:46,286 That's what it's about: 311 00:19:47,221 --> 00:19:51,758 when you write, you can write "the armchair." 312 00:19:51,859 --> 00:19:54,528 When you're making cinema, you can't have the armchair. 313 00:19:54,628 --> 00:19:58,832 It's up to you to turn an armchair into the armchair. 314 00:19:58,932 --> 00:20:03,470 At the same time, it must appear to be that specific armchair in everyone's eyes. 315 00:20:03,570 --> 00:20:08,575 We may be boring our viewers with this rambling about armchairs. 316 00:20:08,675 --> 00:20:10,277 But armchairs are very important! 317 00:20:10,344 --> 00:20:11,778 Indeed so! 318 00:20:12,212 --> 00:20:16,917 Here's Fellini in the massive library of his reconstructed ocean liner. 319 00:20:17,951 --> 00:20:21,054 He's preparing a scene with an elderly English actor: 320 00:20:21,154 --> 00:20:24,024 one of the many in his huge cast. 321 00:20:25,158 --> 00:20:30,664 Was assembling this cast yet another challenge, filled with doubts? 322 00:20:31,298 --> 00:20:33,934 - Was it a troublesome process? - I can't stand — 323 00:20:34,334 --> 00:20:35,736 In a shot, 324 00:20:36,236 --> 00:20:38,205 even one with crowds of people, 325 00:20:38,305 --> 00:20:43,277 I can't stand it if even the last face of an extra in a corner of the frame 326 00:20:43,377 --> 00:20:47,147 is one I didn't choose, haven't seen or don't know. 327 00:20:47,247 --> 00:20:51,718 If I don't know why I chose it, the reasons behind that choice, 328 00:20:52,419 --> 00:20:57,991 I'm unhappy. My conscience doesn't feel right. 329 00:20:58,859 --> 00:21:03,297 I need to appropriate, possess, beget, control, 330 00:21:03,397 --> 00:21:06,867 to be responsible for everything that appears in the shot: 331 00:21:06,967 --> 00:21:11,338 - faces, furniture, tapestry, colors. - But above all, faces. 332 00:21:11,672 --> 00:21:14,775 I think it's dangerous, in a story like this one, 333 00:21:15,175 --> 00:21:19,947 for the audience to recognize an actor and remember him from another film. 334 00:21:20,047 --> 00:21:24,384 Every actor is associated with a previous film, 335 00:21:24,484 --> 00:21:27,321 with its story, costumes, makeup. 336 00:21:28,355 --> 00:21:33,560 As the characters of my story have all disappeared, passed away, 337 00:21:34,127 --> 00:21:37,664 I needed faces that would immediately communicate 338 00:21:37,764 --> 00:21:41,435 a sensation of something alien, unknown. 339 00:21:41,535 --> 00:21:46,340 A feeling we have when we look at photographs of people who have died. 340 00:21:46,740 --> 00:21:49,476 Photographs of dead people are extraordinarily fascinating. 341 00:21:49,576 --> 00:21:53,347 They are vague, phantasmal testimonies 342 00:21:53,780 --> 00:21:56,149 of something that was, but is no more. 343 00:21:56,249 --> 00:21:57,617 They are extremely fascinating. 344 00:21:57,718 --> 00:22:03,223 Due to the simple fact of having died, even the roughest face of a dead person 345 00:22:03,323 --> 00:22:06,693 acquires extraordinary authority and charm. 346 00:22:07,627 --> 00:22:11,465 Obviously, I couldn't cast dead actors for the film. 347 00:22:11,565 --> 00:22:13,567 I couldn't build a cast of deceased people. 348 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,671 As I couldn't highlight the fact that time has canceled certain faces, 349 00:22:18,238 --> 00:22:23,543 I focused on the unfamiliarity created by distance, by different nationalities. 350 00:22:24,311 --> 00:22:27,314 Here's a view of the stern of Fellini's great ship, 351 00:22:27,814 --> 00:22:30,784 during one of the last shooting sessions on this set. 352 00:22:32,686 --> 00:22:35,022 Ever since he imagined it, 353 00:22:35,856 --> 00:22:39,960 the director meticulously drew this massive set. 354 00:22:42,996 --> 00:22:47,367 It was conceived, designed and written, just like the whole story of this ship. 355 00:22:47,467 --> 00:22:51,705 We proceeded by sectors, by segments, 356 00:22:51,805 --> 00:22:56,410 to build the ship and all of its various structures. 357 00:22:56,510 --> 00:23:01,181 The deck, the stern, the prow, the hall, the engine room, 358 00:23:01,281 --> 00:23:03,417 were all built here, in Stage 5 at Cinecittà. 359 00:23:03,517 --> 00:23:05,552 Where sea sickness is not common, 360 00:23:05,652 --> 00:23:09,656 but the set features a wave system, if I'm not mistaken. 361 00:23:09,756 --> 00:23:15,328 Yes, we had an engineer build a system that simulates 362 00:23:16,063 --> 00:23:18,999 the oscillation and rolling of the sea, 363 00:23:19,099 --> 00:23:20,333 So do people really get seasick? 364 00:23:20,434 --> 00:23:23,136 I was slightly worried. This machinery is so perfect, 365 00:23:23,236 --> 00:23:26,940 that it feels as if you really are aboard a ship at sea. 366 00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:29,076 - I'm prone to seasickness. - There you go! 367 00:23:29,176 --> 00:23:32,312 On the first day of rehearsals, when we weren't yet shooting, 368 00:23:32,412 --> 00:23:35,382 and almost nobody from the cast or troupe was around, 369 00:23:36,149 --> 00:23:41,421 when this massive platform started moving, 370 00:23:41,521 --> 00:23:44,224 I had a moment of bewilderment, as I felt a bit dizzy. 371 00:23:44,324 --> 00:23:46,827 I thought, "How will I direct an entire film, 372 00:23:47,394 --> 00:23:50,130 with this feeling of imbalance?" 373 00:23:51,064 --> 00:23:52,732 Ultimately, as always occurs, 374 00:23:52,833 --> 00:23:57,571 work is so protective and therapeutic 375 00:23:58,038 --> 00:24:01,241 that it removes any discomfort, any hindrance. 376 00:24:01,341 --> 00:24:03,944 - You got used to it. - I remember that in some occasions, 377 00:24:04,044 --> 00:24:06,880 I came to Cinecittà with a temperature of 38° Celsius, 378 00:24:06,980 --> 00:24:10,317 and all I needed to do was enter the magical atmosphere of the spotlights, 379 00:24:10,417 --> 00:24:12,152 be among the members of the troupe, 380 00:24:12,252 --> 00:24:16,089 and be forced to step into the clothes of the director, 381 00:24:16,189 --> 00:24:19,860 that all my symptoms would disappear. Temperature, illness, headaches. 382 00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:23,763 They say every ship meets its storm, 383 00:24:23,864 --> 00:24:26,900 iceberg, sea monster or whale. 384 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:31,037 That's the fun of traveling. A fully safe journey, 385 00:24:31,371 --> 00:24:36,143 completely protected from any sudden 386 00:24:37,144 --> 00:24:40,313 and unexpected incident would no longer be a journey. 387 00:24:41,081 --> 00:24:43,483 What about your ocean liner? 388 00:24:43,583 --> 00:24:45,919 No, everything went fine. Our navigation was serene, 389 00:24:46,019 --> 00:24:49,623 apart from typical incidents that happen whenever you make a film. 390 00:24:49,723 --> 00:24:51,758 Like going over budget by a few billion lire. 391 00:24:52,159 --> 00:24:56,263 That's the minimum that can happen. It's expected from the start. 392 00:24:57,831 --> 00:25:01,334 In Cinecittà's Stage 5, Fellini has announced the end of production 393 00:25:01,434 --> 00:25:03,036 for his film And the Ship Sails On, 394 00:25:03,136 --> 00:25:05,772 exactly four months after another press conference, 395 00:25:05,872 --> 00:25:08,341 during which he announced its beginning. 396 00:25:08,909 --> 00:25:14,748 The film was made in 14 weeks, as expected. 397 00:25:14,848 --> 00:25:16,483 The press conference wasn't called 398 00:25:16,583 --> 00:25:19,920 to highlight this fact as something exceptional. 399 00:25:20,020 --> 00:25:24,191 Many films have been made 400 00:25:24,291 --> 00:25:25,959 within the expected time frame. 401 00:25:26,059 --> 00:25:29,029 Nowadays it's more difficult, because the production of a film, 402 00:25:29,129 --> 00:25:30,931 and especially a big film like this one, 403 00:25:31,031 --> 00:25:36,503 despite all the sessions, meetings and forecasts — 404 00:25:37,003 --> 00:25:42,008 A journey like this can lead you on unknown routes, variable seas... 405 00:25:42,108 --> 00:25:45,345 A good metaphor, since the film's about a ship. 406 00:25:45,445 --> 00:25:49,549 It was quite a heavy, claustrophobic film: 407 00:25:50,417 --> 00:25:55,722 I've always shot in Cinecittà. I've always made my films in the studio, 408 00:25:55,822 --> 00:25:58,792 because I believe it's the place that's best suited to making a film. 409 00:25:58,892 --> 00:26:02,195 But when making other films, we'd spend a couple of days in Ostia, 410 00:26:02,295 --> 00:26:03,463 Fregene, Maccarese. 411 00:26:03,563 --> 00:26:05,966 I never took my troupe very far. 412 00:26:06,066 --> 00:26:10,036 They often ask me, "Will we make it as far as Viterbo this time?" 413 00:26:10,136 --> 00:26:13,206 This time we didn't. We entered Stage 5, 414 00:26:13,306 --> 00:26:17,677 and the furthest we went was from Stage 5 to Stage 7, from 7 to 12, 415 00:26:17,777 --> 00:26:20,080 from 12 back to 5. 416 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:26,219 So after four months of slightly forced cohabitation, 417 00:26:26,319 --> 00:26:29,489 this led to a sensation of heaviness, 418 00:26:29,589 --> 00:26:32,492 which dissolved yesterday evening, with the end of the film. 419 00:26:32,592 --> 00:26:35,095 Actually, I'm already starting to feel nostalgic. 420 00:26:41,501 --> 00:26:43,103 CINEMA IN VENICE 421 00:26:44,104 --> 00:26:47,607 This table, where filmmakers traditionally sit 422 00:26:47,707 --> 00:26:49,876 for morning press conferences, 423 00:26:50,210 --> 00:26:54,447 was today supposed to welcome Federico Fellini, 424 00:26:54,547 --> 00:26:58,385 but the room is empty instead. 425 00:26:59,019 --> 00:27:03,089 Fellini then flew in from Rome in the early afternoon with his wife. 426 00:27:03,423 --> 00:27:06,626 He kept the time of his arrival in Venice secret, 427 00:27:06,726 --> 00:27:10,697 but hadn't anticipated Alitalia computers recording the data of his booking, 428 00:27:10,797 --> 00:27:13,700 that were cunningly consulted by journalists and photographers. 429 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:19,339 So he was met at the Marco Polo Airport by the usual army of excited reporters. 430 00:27:20,573 --> 00:27:23,677 Yesterday, Fellini had sent a telegram to Gian Luigi Rondi, 431 00:27:23,777 --> 00:27:27,514 apologizing for his absence at the press conference. 432 00:27:27,914 --> 00:27:30,517 He added that "Relentless, demanding 433 00:27:30,617 --> 00:27:32,886 and even affectionate questions from journalists 434 00:27:32,986 --> 00:27:36,990 have always plunged me into an abyss of discomfort. 435 00:27:37,290 --> 00:27:41,461 I don't want to provide interpretations of what I've made, and am unable to." 436 00:27:43,396 --> 00:27:46,666 Fellini's ship has finally landed at the Lido. 437 00:27:46,766 --> 00:27:49,903 The title obviously invites such puns. 438 00:27:50,236 --> 00:27:53,173 The Fellini of his 18th film is a brand-new director. 439 00:27:53,807 --> 00:27:57,544 Federico, The White Sheik was presented in Venice in 1952. 440 00:27:57,644 --> 00:27:59,813 I was the first to interview you, and I said, 441 00:27:59,913 --> 00:28:02,582 "Finally, Italian cinema will have a great director." 442 00:28:02,682 --> 00:28:06,586 More than 30 years have elapsed from 1952 to today. 443 00:28:07,387 --> 00:28:10,390 - What has changed for you? - Can't you see? My hair's gone! 444 00:28:10,457 --> 00:28:11,424 DIRECTOR 445 00:28:11,524 --> 00:28:15,495 My hands tremble. I stutter and can't concentrate, 446 00:28:15,595 --> 00:28:17,864 so could you please repeat the question? 447 00:28:17,964 --> 00:28:20,066 Fellini arrived in Venice a few hours ago, 448 00:28:20,166 --> 00:28:22,736 and said he is happy to be at a festival yet again, 449 00:28:23,069 --> 00:28:25,739 but, in line with his character, he also revealed 450 00:28:25,839 --> 00:28:29,042 his doubts and fears. 451 00:28:30,276 --> 00:28:35,815 I hope that the film I see this evening is the same one I left 15 days ago... 452 00:28:35,915 --> 00:28:37,350 That nobody's changed it! 453 00:28:37,450 --> 00:28:39,886 I'm not worried about the film changing, 454 00:28:39,986 --> 00:28:41,755 but there's always — 455 00:28:41,855 --> 00:28:46,159 A cinematic creation, a film, in other words, 456 00:28:47,227 --> 00:28:48,495 appears to resemble, 457 00:28:48,595 --> 00:28:52,999 rather than an eternally unchangeable artistic creation, 458 00:28:53,099 --> 00:28:55,602 a living person. 459 00:28:55,702 --> 00:28:59,272 Someone who is affected 460 00:28:59,372 --> 00:29:03,376 by the moments and places one meets him. 461 00:29:03,877 --> 00:29:05,779 If you take the same film 462 00:29:05,879 --> 00:29:07,881 and watch it this evening at the festival, 463 00:29:07,981 --> 00:29:11,217 or in the cutting room, or in a month's time in New York 464 00:29:11,317 --> 00:29:14,254 or in Bergamo, or in a provincial theater, 465 00:29:14,821 --> 00:29:17,457 at a certain time of day, or with specific people, 466 00:29:17,857 --> 00:29:21,027 and it will completely change its looks, just like a person 467 00:29:21,127 --> 00:29:23,730 who you meet in different places or at different times. 468 00:29:24,197 --> 00:29:26,332 This is why I say that I hope this evening's film 469 00:29:26,433 --> 00:29:31,671 is the same one I left 15 days ago: 470 00:29:32,138 --> 00:29:33,907 that it has the same — 471 00:29:34,507 --> 00:29:37,076 That it represents me as completely and totally 472 00:29:37,177 --> 00:29:40,113 as I thought it did two weeks ago. 473 00:29:41,014 --> 00:29:43,783 There's always the risk of a film changing its face, 474 00:29:43,883 --> 00:29:49,389 of it suddenly becoming arrogant, boring or impatient. 475 00:29:50,123 --> 00:29:53,526 Sometimes, the film also becomes the mirror of its audience. 476 00:29:54,127 --> 00:29:56,329 Yesterday was a very intense day, 477 00:29:56,429 --> 00:29:59,599 spent almost entirely within the comfortable Grand Hotel 478 00:29:59,833 --> 00:30:02,335 and, in the evening, in the nearby Novelli Theater 479 00:30:02,435 --> 00:30:06,606 for the national premiere of his latest film, And the Ship Sails On. 480 00:30:07,740 --> 00:30:09,943 Many thought he wouldn't show up. 481 00:30:10,043 --> 00:30:12,846 But finally, alongside Giulietta Masina, 482 00:30:12,946 --> 00:30:14,981 he overcame his shyness 483 00:30:15,081 --> 00:30:18,618 and faced a "laid-back, festive and familiar" atmosphere, 484 00:30:18,718 --> 00:30:21,120 as the great Federico ironically described it, 485 00:30:21,221 --> 00:30:23,723 during his sophisticated press conference. 486 00:30:23,823 --> 00:30:28,394 Next, he appeared on Domenica In, and Federico seemed perfectly at ease. 487 00:30:28,495 --> 00:30:31,831 Thank you for accepting this invitation. 488 00:30:31,931 --> 00:30:35,902 I know that Federico Fellini doesn't enjoy cameras and interviews, is it true? 489 00:30:36,836 --> 00:30:40,773 I'd promised you that sooner or later I'd appear. Here I am! 490 00:30:40,874 --> 00:30:42,942 Here I am in Rimini. There's the Grand Hotel. 491 00:30:44,310 --> 00:30:45,979 I'm always slightly uneasy, 492 00:30:46,079 --> 00:30:50,950 because one of the forms of alienation in my job 493 00:30:51,050 --> 00:30:54,854 is to think that the things one has used in a film, 494 00:30:54,954 --> 00:30:59,893 people, objects, even environments or entire cities, 495 00:30:59,993 --> 00:31:05,131 have been canceled after serving their purpose in the story. 496 00:31:05,231 --> 00:31:09,302 So I'm surprised that the Grand Hotel, which is in many of my films, 497 00:31:09,402 --> 00:31:12,071 is still standing. I'm joking. It actually reassures me. 498 00:31:12,639 --> 00:31:15,975 It's a very warm and tender point of reference, 499 00:31:16,709 --> 00:31:18,845 as well as being nostalgic and stimulating. 500 00:31:18,945 --> 00:31:22,181 So I'm very happy to be here, surrounded by friends, 501 00:31:22,649 --> 00:31:25,385 who want to celebrate me although I don't deserve it, 502 00:31:26,185 --> 00:31:30,823 with triumphal arches, obelisks, fireworks... 503 00:31:30,924 --> 00:31:35,461 "This city evokes a sleepy and murky charm." 504 00:31:35,562 --> 00:31:38,531 Not everything I say in interviews should be taken literally! 505 00:31:38,631 --> 00:31:42,435 - Otherwise, I'll always be on trial! - Of course. 506 00:31:42,535 --> 00:31:47,006 I don't know. Maybe I was referring to a curious and peculiar characteristic 507 00:31:47,106 --> 00:31:48,875 of the town where I was born, 508 00:31:48,975 --> 00:31:52,045 which is perfectly split into two time periods, 509 00:31:52,145 --> 00:31:53,279 which almost transform it. 510 00:31:53,379 --> 00:31:55,048 There's a summertime Rimini, 511 00:31:55,148 --> 00:32:00,787 flooded with life, phantasmagoric, a city that has nothing to envy Las Vegas 512 00:32:00,887 --> 00:32:02,889 or certain major American beaches. 513 00:32:03,156 --> 00:32:06,092 Then, when fall comes, Rimini changes. 514 00:32:06,192 --> 00:32:10,463 It disappears, changes pace and becomes another city. 515 00:32:10,964 --> 00:32:13,900 When I said "sleepy and murky charm," 516 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:16,769 I was probably referring to wintertime: 517 00:32:16,869 --> 00:32:19,706 to the fascination of this sort of incubation 518 00:32:19,806 --> 00:32:23,910 in preparation for a new solar explosion. 519 00:32:25,111 --> 00:32:30,283 Federico Fellini temporarily left Rimini in 1936, 520 00:32:31,017 --> 00:32:34,253 and when he returned in 1946, he no longer recognized the city. 521 00:32:35,021 --> 00:32:37,724 - I couldn't recognize it? - You found it had changed. 522 00:32:38,291 --> 00:32:41,661 Well, the war had taken place in the meantime, 523 00:32:41,761 --> 00:32:44,063 and those were terrible years. 524 00:32:44,564 --> 00:32:49,702 Rimini was also among the most martyrized and tormented towns during the war. 525 00:32:49,802 --> 00:32:55,041 I think that, after Cassino, it was the most bombed town in Italy. 526 00:32:55,141 --> 00:32:56,542 It was truly in ruins. 527 00:32:56,643 --> 00:33:01,781 I remember that when I returned after the long and atrocious war, 528 00:33:02,215 --> 00:33:03,683 it was very shocking. 529 00:33:03,783 --> 00:33:07,587 The city no longer existed, it was a sea of debris. 530 00:33:08,321 --> 00:33:10,323 When I got off that black train 531 00:33:10,423 --> 00:33:12,759 and was surrounded by the lunar white of the debris, 532 00:33:12,859 --> 00:33:18,631 what really got to me was the sound of a voice calling a woman. 533 00:33:18,731 --> 00:33:23,069 The woman's name was Vesperina, a typical name in our region. 534 00:33:23,169 --> 00:33:27,607 Hearing that accent, that dialect amidst the desolation 535 00:33:27,707 --> 00:33:32,111 touched my heart and moved me intensely. 536 00:33:32,512 --> 00:33:35,248 Rimini then bounced back quickly. 537 00:33:35,748 --> 00:33:39,752 I think that's part of the spirit of the local people. 538 00:33:40,286 --> 00:33:44,590 These are very fervent, laborious and active people. 539 00:33:45,358 --> 00:33:48,127 Shall we browse through your photo album 540 00:33:48,227 --> 00:33:51,164 and look at some images from your childhood? 541 00:33:52,432 --> 00:33:53,866 Is that okay with you? 542 00:33:54,300 --> 00:33:57,437 That depends. Are we starting with ones where I'm laying on a goatskin 543 00:33:57,537 --> 00:34:00,873 - with my bottom in the air? - No, we removed those ones! 544 00:34:00,973 --> 00:34:02,842 That's me with my brother Riccardo. 545 00:34:02,942 --> 00:34:05,912 - Where are you? - What should I say? "What a pretty child?" 546 00:34:06,012 --> 00:34:09,549 Well, he is a pretty child, it's true. Both of them. 547 00:34:09,982 --> 00:34:12,351 - Let's keep going. Next image. - Let's go. 548 00:34:12,452 --> 00:34:16,456 - Here you are for your First Communion. - A classic photo: the First Communion. 549 00:34:16,789 --> 00:34:18,624 Yes, these images do feature classic moments. 550 00:34:18,725 --> 00:34:20,693 - Of course. - Let's keep going. Next image. 551 00:34:20,793 --> 00:34:23,996 If we're supposed to get to recent ones, we're going to be here all day! 552 00:34:24,097 --> 00:34:27,266 Yes, we'll still be looking at photos at midnight! 553 00:34:27,366 --> 00:34:29,102 Let's comment on this one. 554 00:34:30,103 --> 00:34:32,672 Here, as you can see, I'm wearing a partisan uniform. 555 00:34:36,042 --> 00:34:41,347 This type of uniform was unavoidable. 556 00:34:41,848 --> 00:34:43,583 This is when I was an Avanguardista. 557 00:34:43,683 --> 00:34:49,422 I could narrate my own personal resistance to fascist conditioning... 558 00:34:49,522 --> 00:34:51,224 - What do you mean? - Maybe another time. 559 00:34:51,324 --> 00:34:52,725 Here's another photo. 560 00:34:52,825 --> 00:34:55,261 - I'm in high school in this one. - In high school. 561 00:34:55,361 --> 00:34:58,231 That's Bertini, nicknamed King Kong. As you can see. 562 00:34:58,297 --> 00:34:59,265 Why? 563 00:34:59,365 --> 00:35:02,068 If you zoom in on him, you'll see why. 564 00:35:02,168 --> 00:35:05,104 He looked a lot like a monkey. 565 00:35:05,438 --> 00:35:08,107 It was typical in schools 566 00:35:08,207 --> 00:35:11,511 that everyone had a nickname. 567 00:35:11,611 --> 00:35:14,280 I was dubbed Gandhi because I was extremely thin. 568 00:35:14,380 --> 00:35:16,549 Extremely thin. Is this photo in Rimini or... 569 00:35:16,649 --> 00:35:20,920 In this one I'm thin because I was hungry. It's from my early days in Rome. 570 00:35:21,854 --> 00:35:23,689 As you can see, I was almost a beggar. 571 00:35:24,090 --> 00:35:26,959 Here's an important image for the history of entertainment. 572 00:35:27,059 --> 00:35:28,094 Yes, with Aldo Fabrizi. 573 00:35:28,194 --> 00:35:32,799 He was a sort of good ogre, a big brother, a journey companion, 574 00:35:32,899 --> 00:35:34,267 during my early days in Rome. 575 00:35:34,367 --> 00:35:36,035 And you wrote sketches for him. 576 00:35:36,135 --> 00:35:39,605 Yes, I wrote jokes, sketches and short songs. 577 00:35:39,705 --> 00:35:42,575 I've done all sorts of things. I left nothing out. 578 00:35:42,909 --> 00:35:48,147 I went through the classic, American-style period of the "self-made man." 579 00:35:48,247 --> 00:35:49,715 - Right. - I never sold newspapers, 580 00:35:49,816 --> 00:35:52,852 but if cinema keeps sinking, I may end up doing that too. 581 00:35:52,952 --> 00:35:55,121 We hope not, obviously. 582 00:35:55,221 --> 00:35:57,857 What is the meaning of the province for Federico Fellini? 583 00:35:57,957 --> 00:36:01,561 One can be a man from the province, without being a provincial man. 584 00:36:03,462 --> 00:36:08,868 I've answered this question with all the films I made. 585 00:36:10,436 --> 00:36:12,471 I think... 586 00:36:13,673 --> 00:36:18,878 my roots are based in very fertile, 587 00:36:18,978 --> 00:36:21,247 deep and stimulating grounds. 588 00:36:22,682 --> 00:36:27,820 To the extent that I never was able to consider as reductive 589 00:36:27,887 --> 00:36:30,790 or belittling 590 00:36:30,890 --> 00:36:35,428 the definition some critics used for my films: 591 00:36:35,528 --> 00:36:38,364 "films by a provincial man." 592 00:36:38,998 --> 00:36:43,536 However, this province, this Romagna where I was born... 593 00:36:45,204 --> 00:36:46,973 must have unlimited boundaries, 594 00:36:47,073 --> 00:36:49,909 as I see these "provincial films" are appreciated in New York, 595 00:36:50,009 --> 00:36:51,911 Brazil, India, everywhere! 596 00:36:52,011 --> 00:36:55,948 So this Romagna must basically be as big as the globe itself. 597 00:36:56,048 --> 00:36:57,783 We can say, "The whole world is a province." 598 00:36:57,884 --> 00:36:59,285 Yes, let's say so. 599 00:37:10,663 --> 00:37:12,965 Plume in the summer wind 600 00:37:13,633 --> 00:37:16,302 Waywardly playing 601 00:37:16,869 --> 00:37:19,572 Ne'er one way swaying 602 00:37:19,672 --> 00:37:22,575 Each whim obeying 603 00:37:23,075 --> 00:37:25,711 Plume in the summer wind 604 00:37:25,811 --> 00:37:28,447 Waywardly playing 605 00:37:28,547 --> 00:37:34,086 Ne'er one way swaying 606 00:37:34,186 --> 00:37:36,622 Each whim obeying 607 00:37:37,023 --> 00:37:40,559 Three "average viewer" questions for Federico Fellini on his latest film. 608 00:37:40,660 --> 00:37:42,762 As is the case for inspired works, 609 00:37:42,862 --> 00:37:45,798 And the Ship Sails On is a film that can be read on multiple levels. 610 00:37:45,898 --> 00:37:48,501 Critics saw it as a metaphor for the journey of life, 611 00:37:48,601 --> 00:37:50,336 an allusion to the twilight of a society, 612 00:37:50,770 --> 00:37:53,839 an allegory of fears of an atomic catastrophe, 613 00:37:53,940 --> 00:37:56,809 an argument on art and mass media, 614 00:37:56,909 --> 00:38:01,447 a cry of alarm comforted by tenacious hope in the resources of nature. 615 00:38:01,547 --> 00:38:03,849 Among all these possible interpretations, 616 00:38:03,950 --> 00:38:06,185 which do you find to be the most legitimate 617 00:38:06,285 --> 00:38:08,955 and closest to your artistic intentions? 618 00:38:09,055 --> 00:38:12,792 Is that all? I thought there were many more! 619 00:38:13,125 --> 00:38:15,928 Each of them has its own justification. 620 00:38:16,028 --> 00:38:19,632 I think a film, a book, a painting, 621 00:38:19,732 --> 00:38:25,304 any artistic expression by an artist who has his own vision of the world 622 00:38:25,938 --> 00:38:28,741 and offers it honestly and in good faith, 623 00:38:29,542 --> 00:38:32,445 even if dazzled by a dose of the subconscious 624 00:38:32,545 --> 00:38:35,982 or irrationality he may have poured into his work — 625 00:38:38,317 --> 00:38:41,454 Interpretations are authorized and legitimate. 626 00:38:42,688 --> 00:38:46,125 This is why I'm so diffident and resistant 627 00:38:46,792 --> 00:38:51,097 when it comes to positioning myself between the audience and the film, 628 00:38:51,197 --> 00:38:54,734 in an attempt to provide readings, 629 00:38:54,834 --> 00:38:58,337 or interpretations, explanations. 630 00:38:58,437 --> 00:39:02,174 I feel as if I'm depriving the film 631 00:39:02,274 --> 00:39:04,577 of its most secret charm: 632 00:39:04,677 --> 00:39:10,082 that it can appear different to every single viewer. 633 00:39:10,449 --> 00:39:14,720 Thus, I think that all interpretations have their own justifications, 634 00:39:14,820 --> 00:39:19,892 as they are all borne of the strictly private relationship 635 00:39:19,992 --> 00:39:23,763 the spectator, the onlooker, the viewer, 636 00:39:23,863 --> 00:39:26,899 enjoys with the film, in this case, 637 00:39:26,999 --> 00:39:31,771 or in any case, with an author's work. 638 00:39:32,204 --> 00:39:36,042 Although the journalist-narrator forecasts optimistic hypotheses 639 00:39:36,142 --> 00:39:38,044 of many people being rescued from the ship, 640 00:39:38,144 --> 00:39:41,180 the epilogue of the film shows us merely two survivors, 641 00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:44,150 aboard a tiny Noah's Ark: 642 00:39:44,250 --> 00:39:47,620 The journalist himself and the female rhinoceros, 643 00:39:47,720 --> 00:39:50,022 whose milk is fortunately excellent. 644 00:39:50,122 --> 00:39:54,093 What symbol should we see in this provident animal? Is there one? 645 00:39:54,627 --> 00:39:56,228 You can see anything you want in it. 646 00:39:56,328 --> 00:40:01,934 Obviously, not everything an artist does is planned and rationalized. 647 00:40:02,401 --> 00:40:06,238 Of course, every tiny detail can be interpreted. 648 00:40:06,338 --> 00:40:10,776 As in the case with dreams, where every single element, 649 00:40:10,876 --> 00:40:14,814 the general atmosphere and the details 650 00:40:15,247 --> 00:40:17,083 each have a meaning, 651 00:40:17,950 --> 00:40:20,486 the same is true for images in films: 652 00:40:20,586 --> 00:40:23,489 just like in dreams, all it takes is a little good will, 653 00:40:23,589 --> 00:40:25,691 and we can assign everything an interpretation. 654 00:40:25,991 --> 00:40:27,293 I will once again repeat 655 00:40:27,393 --> 00:40:30,696 that I'm uncomfortable standing there with a ruler, 656 00:40:30,796 --> 00:40:33,499 like a teacher in an elementary school, 657 00:40:33,599 --> 00:40:39,138 and pointing out where Ireland, Greenland and the Arctic Ocean are. 658 00:40:39,805 --> 00:40:44,143 I'd much prefer for the film to speak, for it to communicate directly, 659 00:40:44,243 --> 00:40:46,479 on a conscious or subconscious level, 660 00:40:47,079 --> 00:40:51,750 its message, its myths, its fable, 661 00:40:52,618 --> 00:40:55,187 what it wants to say. 662 00:40:56,188 --> 00:40:59,525 Average viewers complain that, in Fellini's more uncompromising films, 663 00:40:59,625 --> 00:41:03,462 there are not enough likable and positive characters 664 00:41:03,562 --> 00:41:05,464 with whom they can identify. 665 00:41:05,564 --> 00:41:07,533 In And the Ship Sails On, for example, 666 00:41:07,633 --> 00:41:09,702 with the exception of the journalist, 667 00:41:09,802 --> 00:41:13,305 the girl who falls for the Serbian terrorist and very few others, 668 00:41:13,405 --> 00:41:17,243 the characters are mostly ridiculous, grotesque, arrogant, 669 00:41:17,776 --> 00:41:20,746 petty, depraved or simply unpleasant. 670 00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:23,082 Why was this choice made? 671 00:41:23,182 --> 00:41:26,519 Doesn't Fellini worry it may disappoint his audience? 672 00:41:27,019 --> 00:41:30,089 I don't find these characters vile or unpleasant. 673 00:41:30,189 --> 00:41:31,857 They are just characters. 674 00:41:32,391 --> 00:41:37,463 If I'm representing a society, a humanity, 675 00:41:37,997 --> 00:41:42,968 I think I'm forced to differentiate it, 676 00:41:43,369 --> 00:41:47,740 not just to build different masks and psychological types, 677 00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:52,044 but to represent the world that surrounds us, 678 00:41:52,144 --> 00:41:56,549 where people are motivated by vanity, childishness, selfishness... 679 00:41:57,516 --> 00:41:58,784 arrogance. 680 00:41:59,919 --> 00:42:01,921 I find that each of them, 681 00:42:02,021 --> 00:42:07,459 in representing a personality trait... 682 00:42:08,460 --> 00:42:11,263 of the human being, deserves sympathy. 683 00:42:11,363 --> 00:42:13,232 Fellini's ship has landed at the Quirinal Palace. 684 00:42:13,332 --> 00:42:16,302 Indeed, Pertini requested that the great director's latest film 685 00:42:16,402 --> 00:42:19,572 be projected in the small theater of the Presidency of the Republic. 686 00:42:19,972 --> 00:42:24,343 Following normal practice, only a few qualified guests were invited. 687 00:42:24,443 --> 00:42:29,114 Among those who watched the film in the Quirinale, 688 00:42:29,582 --> 00:42:31,550 were the Minister of the Interior, Scalfaro, 689 00:42:31,650 --> 00:42:34,086 Fellini, of course, with Giulietta Masina, 690 00:42:34,186 --> 00:42:38,490 plus Agnes and Zauli, representing RAI, that coproduced the film. 691 00:42:39,225 --> 00:42:41,994 It's a distraction for me. I can't go to the cinema. 692 00:42:42,728 --> 00:42:47,366 My collaborators won't allow me to. They say I can go to the theater, 693 00:42:47,766 --> 00:42:49,902 but in the cinema, the lights are switched off, 694 00:42:50,002 --> 00:42:52,771 and anyone can come in or out. 695 00:42:52,871 --> 00:42:54,506 So it could be dangerous. 696 00:42:54,607 --> 00:42:56,875 But we know you were particularly anxious to see this... 697 00:42:56,976 --> 00:43:02,381 That's right. This is a director I have always loved. 698 00:43:03,182 --> 00:43:06,318 He has inventiveness, fantasy, and so on. 699 00:43:06,418 --> 00:43:09,255 I have always loved his work deeply. 700 00:43:09,355 --> 00:43:13,559 Is Fellini excited about this presidential viewing? 701 00:43:13,659 --> 00:43:16,829 I'm always excited when watching one of my films, 702 00:43:16,929 --> 00:43:19,398 especially in this setting. 703 00:43:19,498 --> 00:43:21,166 We now enjoy this pleasant ritual. 704 00:43:21,267 --> 00:43:25,537 I have the honor of presenting my film to the President every other year, 705 00:43:25,638 --> 00:43:28,440 and I hope this custom continues forever. 706 00:43:28,540 --> 00:43:30,342 AND THE SHIP SAILS ON 707 00:43:31,844 --> 00:43:35,214 The ship of Italian cinema is taking on water, or so they say. 708 00:43:35,314 --> 00:43:40,219 I think cinema has entered an extremely serious crisis. 709 00:43:40,319 --> 00:43:45,524 I think the device we are appearing on right now 710 00:43:46,125 --> 00:43:47,092 in viewers' homes, 711 00:43:47,192 --> 00:43:50,696 if they haven't already switched channel with that other device of theirs, 712 00:43:50,796 --> 00:43:55,034 has formed and brought up 713 00:43:55,901 --> 00:44:00,472 an ocean of impatient, 714 00:44:00,572 --> 00:44:04,176 indifferent, distracted and vaguely racist viewers. 715 00:44:04,276 --> 00:44:07,680 That little device is an execution squad. 716 00:44:07,780 --> 00:44:10,549 It removes your face, takes away your speech, erases you. 717 00:44:10,649 --> 00:44:12,885 Watching four films at the same time 718 00:44:13,252 --> 00:44:16,588 may appear to be the endeavor of a genius, 719 00:44:16,689 --> 00:44:19,925 of someone possessing who knows what superpowers. 720 00:44:20,459 --> 00:44:24,296 In truth, it's nothing more than the inability to pay a little attention 721 00:44:24,697 --> 00:44:25,698 to whoever is speaking, 722 00:44:25,798 --> 00:44:29,735 inability to let oneself be seduced and enchanted by a story. 723 00:44:31,236 --> 00:44:33,672 Cinema was exactly this, 724 00:44:33,772 --> 00:44:38,110 hypnotic and ritualistic suggestion. 725 00:44:38,210 --> 00:44:41,480 It was an almost religious experience. You would go out, 726 00:44:42,414 --> 00:44:45,718 park the car somewhere and get in line. 727 00:44:45,818 --> 00:44:49,355 There were a whole series of rituals. The tickets, the curtain, ushers, 728 00:44:50,089 --> 00:44:53,092 looking at the semi-illuminated crowd, recognizing some friends. 729 00:44:53,192 --> 00:44:56,061 Then the lights would dim, the screen would light up, 730 00:44:56,161 --> 00:44:58,664 and thus began the revelation, the message. 731 00:44:59,198 --> 00:45:02,101 This was an ancient, perennial ritual, 732 00:45:02,201 --> 00:45:04,002 which may have changed form and means, 733 00:45:04,103 --> 00:45:05,637 but it was still the same. 734 00:45:06,305 --> 00:45:08,207 You were there to listen. 735 00:45:08,640 --> 00:45:09,608 Today, people — 736 00:45:09,708 --> 00:45:13,912 Today I find that all of this has been completely destroyed. 737 00:45:14,012 --> 00:45:16,982 - This attitude is missing. - Some people prefer to watch television. 738 00:45:17,082 --> 00:45:19,852 Yes, but they have no respect. With their little device, 739 00:45:19,952 --> 00:45:22,721 a sort of laser that erases and removes. 740 00:45:23,122 --> 00:45:25,924 As soon as the contents don't feature 741 00:45:26,425 --> 00:45:30,562 sensationalist hooks, 742 00:45:30,662 --> 00:45:32,030 they immediately skip. 743 00:45:32,131 --> 00:45:36,769 You jump from a film to a soccer game, from a soccer match to a quiz show, 744 00:45:36,869 --> 00:45:39,037 from a quiz show to an advertisement for diapers. 745 00:45:39,671 --> 00:45:42,641 I think this way of listening to a speaker 746 00:45:42,975 --> 00:45:44,977 is villainous. 747 00:45:45,077 --> 00:45:49,047 Naturally, the speaker in question will be humiliated and mortified, 748 00:45:49,448 --> 00:45:53,218 in a position where nobody is listening to him. 749 00:45:53,318 --> 00:45:54,887 And yet, this is what has occurred. 750 00:45:55,387 --> 00:45:57,723 I think we're living 751 00:45:57,823 --> 00:46:03,562 in such an anxious, threatened and frightful historical season, 752 00:46:03,929 --> 00:46:07,499 that we feel we can't intervene, 753 00:46:07,599 --> 00:46:09,868 interfere or bear any weight 754 00:46:09,968 --> 00:46:13,972 when it comes to general determinations. 755 00:46:14,072 --> 00:46:19,711 It would appear that all that's left for an artist, if I may use this word, 756 00:46:19,812 --> 00:46:25,083 for a creator, is the role of the witness: 757 00:46:25,184 --> 00:46:26,919 he has the duty of bearing witness. 758 00:46:27,019 --> 00:46:29,388 It's all right not to choose an ideology, 759 00:46:29,488 --> 00:46:32,391 not to pick a side of any kind, 760 00:46:32,691 --> 00:46:36,929 but commitment to a lucid awareness of what is going on 761 00:46:37,029 --> 00:46:41,667 is, in my opinion, a duty we all share. 762 00:46:41,767 --> 00:46:45,938 During the crash with the battleship, you detach from the film, 763 00:46:46,038 --> 00:46:49,308 you move back and distance yourself. 764 00:46:49,708 --> 00:46:52,711 - I was wondering why. - I don't distance myself. 765 00:46:52,811 --> 00:46:55,681 - Is it reassuring? - It still has to do with being a witness. 766 00:46:56,582 --> 00:46:58,016 This catastrophe... 767 00:46:59,685 --> 00:47:03,789 conceived and built on the screen, 768 00:47:04,323 --> 00:47:06,358 doesn't aim 769 00:47:06,458 --> 00:47:10,729 to menacingly announce 770 00:47:10,829 --> 00:47:15,300 any immediate apocalypses, nor does it attempt, 771 00:47:16,068 --> 00:47:21,840 more or less arrogantly, to recommend an attitude or a choice. 772 00:47:22,841 --> 00:47:27,312 Therefore, in that point, I think the author of the film, Fellini, 773 00:47:27,412 --> 00:47:31,783 shows that he has no possibility 774 00:47:31,884 --> 00:47:37,389 of providing an immediate ideological judgment 775 00:47:37,656 --> 00:47:42,461 so he shows he is merely a narrator, 776 00:47:42,561 --> 00:47:44,763 someone who is telling this story. 777 00:47:44,863 --> 00:47:48,867 The sense and conclusions of the story are entrusted 778 00:47:49,434 --> 00:47:52,538 to each individual viewer. 779 00:47:52,638 --> 00:47:54,506 - Personally, I — - It's a gesture of — 780 00:47:55,240 --> 00:48:01,547 I think I interpret it as a gesture of modesty, humility, 781 00:48:01,647 --> 00:48:05,083 and even a way of admitting my limitations. 782 00:48:05,150 --> 00:48:06,618 I'm a director. 783 00:48:06,718 --> 00:48:11,723 I didn't tell this story to frighten people, nor to preach, 784 00:48:12,257 --> 00:48:13,959 because I am just a director. 785 00:48:14,059 --> 00:48:16,395 See? The set is fake! 786 00:48:16,495 --> 00:48:21,133 The witness can find salvation, if he is a witness, 787 00:48:21,233 --> 00:48:24,603 and in his role as a witness, by drinking rhino milk. 788 00:48:24,703 --> 00:48:27,372 I'm not here to advertise rhino milk, 789 00:48:27,472 --> 00:48:29,374 which I don't think is even on the market. 790 00:48:30,108 --> 00:48:34,846 I've been asked so many times what the rhinoceros means. 791 00:48:34,947 --> 00:48:37,683 People even stop me on the street and say, 792 00:48:37,783 --> 00:48:40,586 "I liked the film, but I didn't understand the rhinoceros." 793 00:48:40,686 --> 00:48:43,822 I still haven't prepared a funny answer, 794 00:48:44,156 --> 00:48:48,293 nor one that may solve this distressing query. 795 00:48:48,660 --> 00:48:50,462 We may say, 796 00:48:50,562 --> 00:48:54,967 in maybe too irresponsibly psychoanalytical a way, 797 00:48:55,067 --> 00:48:57,169 that the protagonist, Orlando, 798 00:48:57,269 --> 00:49:00,339 survives because his good faith as a witness, 799 00:49:00,439 --> 00:49:03,842 his good faith in recording good and evil, 800 00:49:03,942 --> 00:49:07,379 right and wrong, life as it is, 801 00:49:07,713 --> 00:49:12,684 is the attitude of someone who is nourished 802 00:49:12,784 --> 00:49:15,354 even by the monstrous aspects of life, 803 00:49:15,454 --> 00:49:19,224 by its deformed and bestial aspects. 804 00:49:19,691 --> 00:49:23,295 Indeed, he claims that rhino milk is delicious. 805 00:49:23,829 --> 00:49:29,668 It actually annoys me to translate it into such heavily pedagogic terms, 806 00:49:30,168 --> 00:49:35,841 but since it appeared to be an issue for so many viewers, 807 00:49:35,941 --> 00:49:39,177 I'd like to tell them, "Try drinking rhino milk, 808 00:49:39,277 --> 00:49:43,348 and you'll see your boat won't sink. 809 00:49:43,448 --> 00:49:46,551 It'll miraculously stay afloat, 810 00:49:46,652 --> 00:49:52,257 thanks to this acceptance of obscure and irrational aspects of yourselves." 811 00:49:52,357 --> 00:49:54,960 - We'd like to thank you. I'm grateful. - No, I thank you. 812 00:49:55,694 --> 00:49:57,863 - Do you want to re-watch it now? - What? 813 00:49:57,963 --> 00:50:00,866 - The interview. - Just a little. 814 00:50:00,966 --> 00:50:03,068 Okay, let's watch it. 815 00:50:03,602 --> 00:50:09,274 Don't talk. If this is a listening spot, you should listen, not talk! 816 00:50:09,374 --> 00:50:11,376 Can I please hear what the dottore is saying? 817 00:50:11,476 --> 00:50:12,978 FELLINI RACCONTA 2 DIARY OF A FILM 818 00:50:13,078 --> 00:50:17,149 See? I have this whole hand movement that's typical of Italians when speaking. 819 00:50:20,285 --> 00:50:25,624 The dottore is speaking. He's speaking. You're listening. Yes. 820 00:50:26,425 --> 00:50:28,994 Next time — You don't have to answer this, 821 00:50:29,628 --> 00:50:33,198 you answer instead. What's the next film you're doing? 822 00:50:33,298 --> 00:50:36,301 - Do you know yet? - We don't. We'd like — 823 00:50:36,401 --> 00:50:39,371 You weren't supposed to talk. You're listening to me. 824 00:50:39,471 --> 00:50:42,674 I'm just pretending to talk so you can occasionally nod. 825 00:50:43,642 --> 00:50:45,577 Dottore, can you say something? 826 00:50:45,944 --> 00:50:50,148 - Me? - Yes. Just move your arm and hand, 827 00:50:50,248 --> 00:50:53,952 anyway your voice won't be audible here. 828 00:50:54,186 --> 00:50:55,353 There you go. 829 00:51:06,498 --> 00:51:08,333 I can move my leg too. 830 00:51:08,433 --> 00:51:10,535 There you go, raise a leg! 831 00:51:11,937 --> 00:51:12,938 It's a ballet! 832 00:51:15,440 --> 00:51:17,709 WE APOLOGIZE TO THE AUDIENCE 833 00:51:17,809 --> 00:51:20,178 FOR THE QUALITY OF SOME IMAGES 834 00:51:20,278 --> 00:51:22,948 TAKEN FROM CUT OR UNRELEASED MATERIAL 835 00:51:23,048 --> 00:51:25,250 DUE TO DEFECTS IN THE ORIGINAL VIDEOS