I'll tell you why so serious

Good movie but grossly overrated

Excellent adaptation.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

I won't say too much, because every possible thing to say, has been said millions of times. This is a top 10 Movie of all time and if you love movies, this is a MUST.

Funny, fast, exuberant, exciting, and excellent, Fellini's finest (two) hour(s) is a legitimate masterpiece, no exaggeration or even personal opinion necessary. It's really hard for me to find one thing wrong with the film, but it is extremely easy for me to find what is right about it! The plot centers around a filmmaker played with overwhelming suavity and sarcastic comedy by the great Marcello Mastroianni who is struggling to work on his latest film, a project that seems to hint at having the intentions of being autobiographical, centering on religion, skepticism, life, love, and so on, all while he himself is struggling with some inner crisis as well as having some pretty severe marital conflicts. Compared to the other Fellini milestones up until this point, the actual conflict is relatively minimal. There are naturally many moments of drama and sadness, but they never come close to reaching the tragic heights of a film like La Strada, Nights of Caribia, or even La dolce vita, all of which don't really conclude with much cheer or hope, even if signs of said cheer or hope can be found within them. However, 8 1/2, for the most part, is, in both the strictest and most lenient senses of the term, a comedy. It is a jovial experience all around, particularly as the tale closes and a truly magnificent carnivalesque dance number spirals merrily and surrealistically round Fellini's laughing lens in one of the most memorable, hopeful, and simply brilliant endings to any film made thus fair and, I bet you, any film that is to be made in the near or far future.

My twentieth year was the most transformative of my life, so far. The same year that I discovered Mulholland Drive (which led to Eraserhead) and Jules and Jim, I also attended a screening of Federico Fellini's 1963 film, 8 1/2. Seeing two films that still hold top spots on my list of cinematic favorites would have been enough to satisfy me all year. It's a bit unfathomable to me now, knowing how much that one professor exposed me to that have become permanent mainstays in my life, that it all happened in a year. 8 1/2 represented a world that I didn't know existed. The story of a creative, seeking respite after success, only to be met with the immediate expectation that he will bring about another success as there are now a number of other creatives and business personnel that depend on him was instantly intriguing. A filmmaker, played exquisitely by Marcello Mastroianni, unable to come up with a new idea and faced with the possibility that he may be a disappointment to those dependent on him for the first time, he begins to reminisce on the people of his past and imagining the various trajectories his life could have followed. Losing artistic direction for the film at hand, the director retreats completely to his dreams.Fellini didn't just create a world through 8 1/2, he also created a mood, a feeling, and an appreciation for a side of filmmaking that the average movie-goer will never experience. When considering my favorite worlds of cinema, those places wherein we feel so comfortable entering that provide such genuine enjoyment, 8 1/2 always tops the list. It's not simply the sets and overall production design that make me so eager to revisit Fellini's masterpiece, but it is the exuberance for film that he is able to project. Other filmmakers have made stand-out films about the behind-the-scenes aspects of filmmaking, Francois Truffaut's Day for Night and Stanley Donen's Singin' in the Rain come to mind. Fellini's 8 1/2 embodies the same spirit of honoring the movies while showing the struggles of the creative minds behind the films we love. Fellini invites you to this world anew each time you watch his film. No matter how many times I see 8 1/2, I am forever mesmerized by its power and emotional impact. Much of the humor in the film I missed when I was 20, and many of the situations I couldn't relate to as I can now, making each successive rewatch all the more worthwhile. I had to stop counting the number of perfect shots in the film, shots that I would gladly frame and fill my house with because there are simply too many to highlight. Gorgeous, robust, and spellbinding, 8 1/2 is one of those films I can watch anytime, and still marvel at its existence as if it was the first viewing.

I've come to understand why this film is called a director's movie, that is, a movie that should be considered must seeing for all directors. Fellini blends dreams with reality, abstraction with rigidity, and parody with truthfulness. The film is largely self referential for the proclaimed director, a movie about making a movie with a director being a director for that movie. I found it interesting that Fellini's own mental block following the success of "La Dolce Vita" was resolved when he decided to change the principal character here from a writer to a director. Fellini was not a writer, he didn't live in that world even though he knew many. But he could relate to a director's frustration and the change allowed him to throw off the shackles to creativity.I have to say, I wasn't getting it at first but the movie managed to grow on me in the telling. Unable to come to terms with the story he was trying to tell, Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni) kept putting off everyone associated with his project - the producer, the actresses, the crew, everyone. The stress intrudes into his personal life as well, unable to reconcile feelings for his wife and the women in his past. It all begins to make sense when Guido decides to accept 'what is' during this particular time of his life. He's then able to successfully approach his project unfettered by imaginary constraints.But granted, it's not an easy movie to follow and will not appeal to everyone. There are flashbacks and dreamlike sequences that don't appear to connect to anything. Mostly, the movie is a testament to Man's inner confusion and coming to terms with one's life. At the end of the picture Guido appears to have made his peace with himself, and one is left to wonder whether this condition is permanent or temporary.