I, Fellini

Amazon.com
This lusty, high spirited book came out of conversations, conducted over the course of fourteen years, between Frederico Fellini, the reknowned director of of such landmark films as 8 1/2, and La Dolce Vita, and author Charlotte Chandler. The result is a work of astonishing candor, subtle wit, and brilliant insight into the mystery of motion pictures.


From Publishers Weekly
Chandler, who befriended and interviewed Italian film director Federico Fellini from 1980 until shortly before his death in 1993, has distilled their talks into a first-person narrative that reveals a touchy, egocentric, obsessive personality, a perfectionist who claimed never to have seen any of his films once he'd completed them. Fellini credits his wife, the late actress Giulietta Masina, with helping him discover the imaginative terrain he explored in his movies. He recalls his privileged yet emotionally deprived childhood?his father was a remote, philandering wine-and-cheese salesman with whom Federico's strict, religious mother was bitterly unhappy. Fellini also discusses the symbolism of his dreams, his single, unfruitful LSD trip and his study of Jungian psychology, which helped him unchain his subconscious and place fantasy over realism. Chandler wrote Hello, I Must Be Going with Groucho Marx. Photos not seen by PW. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Federico Fellini was fascinated by the circus, an oft-cited influence apparent in many of his films. In this oral autobiography, Fellini emerges as a happy-go-lucky clown tumbling through life, a Peter Pan who never lost the imagination and wonder of childhood. Chandler skillfully interweaves conversations with the director from 1980 through 1993, trying to create a "verbal memoir of the images in his mind." The result is a charming portrait, but Fellini was so complex and his work so multifaceted that he himself was unable to provide the last word on his life and art. And because what is genius to many was normal to Fellini, the interviews don't reveal the insights into his creativity as often as the reader might hope. These shortcomings of the genre are in part balanced by a collection of reminiscences by his colleagues that make up the last 50 pages. Unlike John Baxter's Fellini (LJ 11/1/94), which made some pointlessly scurrilous charges, Chandler's book presents the man as simply and honestly as possible in his own words. An important and illuminating addition to film collections.?Cynthia Ward Cooper, Carrollton P.L., Tex.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Book News, Inc.
A memoir drawn from conversations between the famous film director and the author over the course of 14 years. His memoir, like his films, deals in great part with sex, the nature of reality, death, dreams, memories, fantasies, and nightmares. First published in 1994 as Ich, Fellini by F. A. Herbig, Munich. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.


Book Description
This lusty, high-spirited book was forged from conversations, conducted over the course of fourteen years, between Federico Fellini--the great master director-- and author Charolette Chandler.


Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German


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