Variety Lights

Perfect ending.

A touching film, though not at the level of some of Fellini's other 50's and early 60's work. Giulietta Masina lights up the screen whenever she is present. The film lags a bit in the second half as she gets dumped for the younger woman. But overall, very enjoyable, with the joy and humor and brief moments of pathos one would expect from early Fellini.

Enter the world of Federico Fellini. He opens his account with a showbiz movie, not too unlike the playful vaudeville films one would get from the Hollywood. Here Peppino De Filippo falls head-over-heels in love with Carla Del Poggio which creates tension within the group of performers working for him. For the most part there is a comic tone to it all and very lively. Doubt very much this would be classified as one of his serious works, but i found it very entertaining.

There's plenty of humor and amusement to be seen in these third-rate vaudevillian shenanigans, even as they achieve a small pathos about play-acting and phoniness, or the idealism of dreamers.

This viewer is not aware of the specifics of the division of labour that occured on set, but VL bears many Fellini traits, even if nothing here scales the heights of his more mature works, especially when he really let his imagination run wild. This is more constrained by its linear narrative and traditional approach to comedy and drama. Nonetheless, it has its charms, and Masina lights up the screen with her mere presence alone.

Mulheres e Luzes estreava há 70 anos na Itália. Não sou especialmente fã dos primeiros filmes de Fellini (ele só passar a fazer uma obra-prima atrás da outra a partir de Cabíria), mas acho que são filmes bem bons para alguém que ainda está construindo o seu estilo, esse é bem bacana sobre os bastidores do show business, embora outros grandes nomes do cinema tenham feito feito filmes mais memoráveis sobre o assunto. DVDRip no MakingOff.

86.00

Federico Fellini #1

A bit rough around the edges and none of the actors (even Masina) are that remarkable, but it's got a lot of heart.

Fellini's first effort is muddled and less poignant than most of his output of the following decade, and goes a little overboard with the shouting, but it's already unmistakably a Fellini film: Colorful, bittersweet, down to earth and yet imaginative, and the themes are familiar.

Fellini's first film is simple, but charming. Warm and funny and bittersweet, and Fellini's love of performers (especially flawed ones) is on full display. It's not a very deep or rewarding film, but it's a lot of fun and Guiletta Masina is touching as always.

The message is: even if these theatrical workers are barely subsisting, perpetually in conflict, duplicitous, manipulative, not necessarily very talented, and prone to believing their own nonsense, they're probably still enjoying a fuller and worthier life than you are. Might not reach the heights of the similarly themed BELLISSIMA (Visconti) and FRENCH CANCAN (Renoir), but nevertheless an enjoyable presentation of a milieu that already begins to show Fellini's affection and insight.