To start, I think this film was very beautifully crafted. From the scenery (including flooded lower class apartments to aristocratic castle-like structures to the beach) to the costumes and hair styles, there were countless astounding elements to this film. From the first image I felt fully consumed in the film. I feel like there was no boring part. I know at the beginning the story line was a little slow, but it's hard to say it wasn't interesting.
I think that Fellini explores religious fervor with several of the events throughout the movie, including the opening scene with the helicopter. I think that the statue of Jesus flying over the city was ironic. The men in the helicopter hover for a while over the modern apartment building so they can wave at the bikinied sunbathing girls by the pool, all the while transporting a representation of the Son of God. As Catholicism is a very modest-conservative religion, it is easy to see that from the very beginning of the movie, it would be immediately rejected by the Catholic religion.
As the film continues I feel like Fellini pokes fun at religion, especially when the two children claim to see the Virgin. The children have such a hold on the crowd, that they make a game out of the attention the crowd gives them. They run in random directions giggling with each other, claiming each time that the Virgin appears to them, and each time the raucous, anxious crowd ranafter them. The eager crowd (which was full of the sick in hopes of finding a miracle) was determined to be healed and to feel closer to God. The tragedy of the situation is that one man actually ends up dying in the rain and excitement of that night.
I also think it's interesting that Fellini plays with the idea of ghosts and the afterlife. As some drunk party guests swarm into a building belonging to the party host, which he hadn't entered in at least two years, they are I search of communicating with souls that haven't "passed on."
So to answer the question: Is Fellini the ultimate Catholic or the ultimate decadent? I believe that based on his direction of this film he is the ultimate decadent.
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I too found the movie to poke fun at the Catholic religion. I loved how you tied in the second third piece when Fellini plays with ghosts in searching of communication with souls that have not yet "passed on." I found this very interesting because I myself didn't notice. I also mentioned in my blog how I found this movie a visual enjoyment. There truly was never a dull moment. I loved Fellini's choice of scenery location and costumes; as well as how it was amplified through the use of natural lighting.
ReplyDeleteI had forgotten about alot of the events such as the statue of Jesus while writing my blog. After reading this, I'm seeing the film poked more fun at religion that I had initially thought. I'm not sure he's against it persay but he definitely puts it in a fairly negative light. With the ghosts, it almost pulls it further away from being catholic, covering even afterlife concepts.
ReplyDeleteI like what you said in the beginning about hoe beautifully the movie was done. I liked the glitz of the movie and the hair do's and the outfits. I felt like I was thrown into the time period with them. I also like what you said about the movie not having any dull moments. There was almost too much going on for me and I definitely had to really pay attention to what was going on so I didn't get totally lost. I also thought that the movie poked fun at religion. Obviously, the scene where the children are running around with the crowd was almost ridiculous at how much the crowd believed them and wanted to be healed or whatever they were there for.
ReplyDeleteSome really good observations here, and a very sharp mini-analysis. It's an interesting point of debate about whether Fellini was poking fun at religion or whether he was commenting about an age in which religious faith ends up being just another spectacle. Pasolini seemed to conclude that ultimately, Fellini comes down on the side of religion and that he's condemning the attitudes of the people in the movie. You can read it either way. I think that Marcello is sincerely looking for some kind of deeper connection though. I think that's why Steiner's death threw him so much--Steiner really seemed to be so much better connected to everything, to have some spiritual core, and it turns out to be just the opposite.
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