kijii
I LOVE this movie! It's so nice to see a fun Fellini movie with pure humor—no deep symbolism, semi-autobiographical narcissism, or self- analysis here. I think that this is one of the few non-English movies where I laughed out loud--while viewing it by myself!! The plot is funny enough, but the thing that really nailed it for me was the expressions and gestures of the two main characters.The movies starts as a couple comes to Rome on their honeymoon. Since the husband's uncle is an important public official, he has arranged a VIP tour of the city for them-—including an audience with the Pope!!. The husband, Ivan (Leopoldo Trieste), is anxious for everything to go well for between his uncle and his new wife, Wanda. (Brunella Bovo). However, Wanda is swept away by the chance to visit a photographic comic book studio (or fumetti) where a serial romance with her favorite star, 'The White Sheik,' is being made. She wants to know the future of the fumetti plot and get 'The White Sheik's autograph. When Wanda disappears, Ivan is left to make excuses to his uncle for her whereabouts. In the meantime, she is taken away into by the fumetti group's photograph sessions. As time runs low, they are both left on a comical verge of a nervous breakdown.
TheLittleSongbird
While not one of my favourite Federico Fellini films, this is one of his best early films, almost as good with Il Bidone and on par on I Vitelloni. As ever with Fellini it is beautifully filmed with a touch of quaintness, and his direction is restrained compared to his later films and with a mischievous touch of comedy and fantasy. Nino Rota's score is rousing and cheerful, almost like being at a carnival, while the writing is funny and moving- one of the most beautiful lines of any of Fellini's movies is "Our real lives are in our dreams, but sometimes dreams are a fatal abyss"- and the story is comically precise and sympathetic. The characters are engaging, again while not as identifiable as La Strada and Nights of Cabiria they are not detached as Casanova and Satyricon. Alberto Sordi's performance is top drawer as the dissolute titular character, while Leopoldo Trieste is arresting in his comic timing and Brunella Bovo is wonderfully innocent and entrancing. Giulietta Masina would go on to do even better performances like in Nights of Cabiria but she is still terrific. Overall, a great Fellini film. 9/10 Bethany Cox
dlee2012
Fellini's earliest vehicle, the White Sheik, is a screwball comedy that has aged well, due to its light touch and social critique.The story of a bride and groom who travel to Rome to meet relatives and the Pope at a mass gathering of newly-weds, the narrative depicts how they both cope when the girl absconds to meet her hero, the male model who features in an ongoing photo-serial in a pulp magazine.During the comic proceedings that follow, she discovers it may be best to live with the illusion of her icon than meet him in the flesh. Indeed, Fellini explores the question of which is better, real life or a dream, in detail as the story unfolds.The kitsch tackiness of the soap opera magazine and its decidedly uncultured models contrasts sharply with the street scenes of Rome where every fountain and statue is emphasised by the subtle, yet well-executed cinematography.The groom's obsession with family honour is also scathingly examined, including his devotion to the ultimate "father" of his religious denomination, the Pope, and his desire to meet him and appear good before him. The final scene, which lingers on the facade of the Vatican, perhaps indicates just how much facades have played a part in this comedy. When the groom meets with the Pope, perhaps he too will have his illusions shattered when he sees that the man is not really like how he is portrayed. This question is left lingering at the film's end, leaving the audience wondering how this reception will go.Nevertheless, the main strand is answered as the bride recognises that even her husband, despite all of his flaws, is the true white sheik intended for her.The acting is good for this type of film, with the two leads highly adept at comic expressions.The soundtrack likewise emphasises the lighthearted nature of proceedings and provides a tempo to match the comic proceedings.Ultimately, this film will appeal to more than just Fellini enthusiasts. It remains a classic comedy that can be enjoyed by all of the family.
Ymir4
"Our real lives are in our dreams, but sometimes dreams are a fatal abyss."That line above is one of the most beautiful lines I've ever heard in any film. This 1951 comedy feature is free of Fellini's quintessential surrealist vision but filled with the delights of idiosyncratic imagery, genius comical precision, and indisputable humanity. The film opens in Rome, where a newlywed small-town couple is vacationing on their honeymoon. While in Rome, the (very) young bride takes advantage of being near the location where a new film is being shot that stars The White Sheik, a popular film/serial/newspaper icon whom she is secretly infatuated with. While her husband is sleeping, she sneaks off to find the Sheik and give him a drawing she has made of him. Brunella Bovo, who plays the bride, is new to me, but she was absolutely entrancing in her innocence. Trieste's comic expressions are absolutely arresting. Sordi is hilarious as the Sheik, who is about as unromantic a romantic figure as you can imagine.
Nino Rota's first score for Fellini is a lot of fun and exceptionally carnivalesque. You can tell by the marriage of music and image that Fellini and Rota had a real treasured creative hit-off with this film, and as most know, Rota scored every Fellini film after "White Sheik" until his death in 1979. This great score has never been released in it's entirety, but the main title theme has appeared on many Rota compilations.An absolutely adorable little film, which seems to have been regrettably ignored by the majority. It's one I will watch many times.
AD
