Hitchcoc I have to admit that my love of movies has always allowed me to endure those which demand a lot of me. When I watched my first Fellini movies, I have to admit I was confused. I was young and they were intimidating. And, yes, there were a lot of pretentious people around, acting as if they understood every second. What films like "8 1/2" did for me was to stretch my own thoughts and intellectual being. Those of you who write such angry commentary on movies thought to be classics by the vast majority critics seem to think that Fellini was making art so people could sit around pontificating. To give this a one out of ten shows a kind of petulance and childishness. It simply shows that you have disdain for people that don't agree with you, not with the director or his product. It would be like disliking "Ghandi" because people who see it sit around with their friends and pretend to be compassionate. There are numerous parts of this film that are very accessible and gripping. Fellini was attempting to show how difficult it is to make films that give us the soul of the director.

bico10 I cannot believe how this trash could have won an Academy award for Best Foreign Language Film. Don't get me wrong: I saw two Fellini's movies years back, Amarcord and I Vitelloni, and I found them very valuable. In particular, I consider I Vitelloni as a true masterpiece.Nonetheless, I really tried to figure out how Otto e mezzo can be regarded as one of Fellini's best movies in his long career, but I haven't found a proper answer to my question. The movie is so boring, nothing ever happens. Just 138 minutes of confusing and random thoughts generated by the mysoginistic mind of a troubled Italian director. The acting, the plot, everything is totally nonsense. The brightside, at least, might be that people should think you're "cool" because you watched such a "intellectual Fellini's masterpiece", but at the end of the day you will regret every single minute wasted of your life by having even thought about watching this trash.I don't usually rate a movie 1 out of 10, I always find a reason to give a higher rate, but in this case I got no choice but doing otherwise. Sorry Fellini, maybe next time.

bluecouchpotato I have seen this movie more times than I can count. Even the first time I saw it I was struck by Fellini's masterful opening scene and the use of sound & silence. The movie is clever, funny, and poignant. Definitely worth watching.

HANS I found this film to be an emotional roller-coaster ride. Many things are being said about the opening sequence. Terry Gilliam claims it to be the most important film sequence in his life, and I can see why. Like the overture of an opera, it captures all the conflict and all the drama that is laid out through the rest of the film. It grabs you and will not let you go anymore.It wasn't possible for me to sit through the first viewing, because I was too repulsed by all the sociable chatter in the first half of the film. I got the point Fellini wanted to make (I think), but I still couldn't take it. But the opening sequence was so incredible, that I decided to continue watching the film where I had last stopped. What I got was like a hot and cold shower.Alternating between the chaos and the madness that Guido's life is, and calm, isolated settings, the film comes at us like waves. In his more introspect moments, Guido is usually talking to a female character, and it is here that his visions and his demons are revealed to us. The way he opens up to his sister beneath the spaceship scaffolding reminds of the struggle of an artist who tries to create something personal which he beliefs will not only lift himself above everything, but others, too. His more stable sister just laughs at his pathos and self-pity.We also meet him as the egocentric, irresponsible character that he is. He discards women that do not physically attract him anymore with the strictness of a World War II general. Claudia Cardinale, his muse, confronts him with the sobering fact that he does not know how to love.It all culminates in a press conference that Guido is forced to attend because his producer is putting the pressure on him. Facing the whirlwind of questions from the reporters, and having no answers, he decides to escape by crawling beneath the table and shoot himself. Whether it is fantasy or reality, we don't know, and it doesn't seem important. The movie ends on an up because Guido somehow manages to find a way out of his isolation and to embrace the people, characters and collaborators that accompany and form his life.A very personal film. I think the opening sequence will be a good indicator whether you will relate to it or not.