There are some Fellini films I've found to be brilliant, but incoherent. This is not one of them. A great, funny, tragic story, well told and unforgettable.
August 27, 2007Federico Fellini's take on modern show biz stars real life wife, Giulietta Masina, (Nights of Cabiria), and Fellini mainstay, Marcello Mastroianni, (City of Women), as a former dance team reunited 30 years later for an appearance on a TV variety show. It's a funny and touching look at culture clash between the two has-beens, and a young show biz world intent on instantaneous gratification. Masina makes "Nights of Cabiria", (if you've never seen it, do so), vocal references every time she says Pippo's, (Mastroianni), name (it sounds like her cry to her lover after he tries to drown her in "Cabiria"), but even at this late stage of her acting career, Giulietta Masina seems much more capable than the soft shoe performance she offers here; aside from a youthful exhuberance at the thought of returning to the stage with her former partner, her character remains stoic. Mastroianni's character has more depth, (he's a drunk, a louse, a flirt), but the empty subplot regarding his mental health history may make him more complex, but he remains unrevealed. During the low-key Casablanca-like ending at a train station, one begins to suspect the chemistry between them goes no further than the sparks from their tapping shoes. Still, watching two of Fellini's favorite actors in what amounts to fish out of water submerged in the fast lane of superficial show biz has a dreamlike quality based in a glaring realm that is always, if nothing else, Fellini.
May 26, 2007This is finally coming out, but only dubbed in English? I hope the advance info is wrong about that. Otherwise, I can't wait to see a new print of this.
November 1, 2006 |  | Fantastic! Fantastic! Guilietta and Mastroianni shine! |  |
This is up there with my other favorite Fellini films (City of Women, Juliet of the Spirits) and is a shame it hasn't been re-mastered and released on DVD. It truly deserves it. Unbeknownst to us, a friend and I watched this for the first time on Fellini's birthday (January 20). This is one of Fellini's most straight forwardly hilarious films. We laughed throughout its entirety. What makes Ginger and Fred so special is Guilietta Masina and Marcello Mastroianni, Fellini's two favorite actors. They shine so brightly and have such wonderful chemistry, it's a shame this is the only film they have done together. The plot, what little there is, revolves around Masina as Amelia, a Ginger Rogers impersonator and Mastroianni as Pippo, a Fred Astaire impersonator pairing up after 40 years to appear on a television Christmas special. Amelia longs for her past glory days and still carries a torch for Pippo. Pippo, however, longs for one thing: the bottle. As the two meet again and prepare for their final moment in the spotlight we're thrust into a typically surreal Fellini world. We have American and Italian movie star impersonators, a van full of dancing midgets, blackouts, a transvestite who wants to get pregnant, wild sets, a cow with 20 teats, weird tv commercials and lots of young and beautiful stylish women. The movie ends with a touch of neo-realism but what a beautiful, surreally fantastic visual ride it is. When my friend and I realized we watched Ginger and Fred on Fellini's birthday it added an extra poignancy to the experience. No one will ever come close to his brilliance and talent. Fellini, you are missed.
January 21, 2005Fellini's best. It is CRIMINAL that (in Jan. 2004) this has not yet been released to DVD. Tonino Guerra's screenplay is matchless; Giulietta Masina's performance is the most sublime of her career (better than La Strada, Nights of Cabiria, Juliette of the Spirits, etc.) owing to Marcello Mastroianni's equally moving counterpoint; and Fellini's mise-en-scene is even better for laughs here than in 8 1/2. The sight of a mocked-up Proust and Kafka dancing raucously outside a nightclub will remain with me forever, as will the comic poignance of the movie's coda. Own this film.
January 26, 2004More reviews at Amazon.com ...
Daily Birthdays
