Federico
Fellini was born in Rimini on 20 January 1920, son of Ida Barbiani, of Roman
origin, and Urbano, a travelling salesman, originally of Gambettola. Whilst still
in high school, the future director started making a name for himself as a
caricaturist: to promote films, the manager of the Fulgor cinema, hired him to
draw portraits of the stars. From the beginning of 1938 he started
collaborating with “Domenica del Corriere”, which published several of his
cartoons, and with the weekly comic publication from Florence “420”. In January
1939 he moved to Rome with the excuse of studying law and joined the editorial
staff of “Marc’Aurelio”, a widely-read satirical magazine, where he became
popular through hundreds of pieces signed as Federico. He moved in variety
circles, writing monologues for the comedian Aldo Fabrizi and collaborated with
variety programs on the radio where he met a young actress, Giulietta Masina (1921-1994),
that he married on 30 October 1943. They had just one son, who died one month
after he was born. He soon made a name for himself as a scriptwriter by
contributing to the scripts of Fabrizi’s films. He worked on Roma città aperta
and soon afterwards on Paisà , striking a fruitful friendship with Roberto
Rossellini. He formed a partnership with the playwright Tullio Pinelli, with
whom he continued to work throughout his life. Their partnership became highly
in demand to work with various directors such as Pietro Germi and Alberto
Lattuada. The latter wanted Fellini to co-direct Luci del varietà (1950), a
self-produced enterprise that left both of them full of debts. Fellini’s solo
directorial debut, Lo sceicco bianco (1952), was also a failure, but success
finally arrived with I vitelloni (1953), which won the Silver Lion in Venice
and which also launched Alberto Sordi’s career. This was followed by La strada
(1954), with Giulietta which won an Oscar, the first of a series of films that
assured Fellini’s place amongst the great filmmakers. Some of the most famous
films are Le notti di Cabiria (1957, another Oscar), La dolce vita (1960, Palme
d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival), 8½ (1963, Oscar), Fellini Satyricon
(’69), Fellini Roma (1972), Amarcord
(1973, Oscar), Il Casanova (1976), Prova d’orchestra (1979), Ginger e Fred
(1985), Intervista (1987, 40th Anniversary Prize at the Cannes Film Festival,
Grand Prize at the Moscow Film Festival), La voce della luna (1990). Fellini’s
career was peppered with homages and awards, including the Legion of Honour
(1984) and the Praemium Imperiale awarded by the imperial family of Japan
(1990). Fellini is one of the directors that has won the most Oscars, five, the
last of which a lifetime achievement award, in 1993, a few months before his
death on 31 October, in Rome, which causes immense mourning across the globe.
Films :
La Dolce Vita
Produced by : Giuseppe Amato, Angelo
Rizzoli
Screenplay by : Federico
Fellini
Starring : Marcello
Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg
Music by : Nino Rota
Cinematography : Otello
Martelli
Edited by : Leo Catozzo
Production companies, Riama
Film
Pathé Consortium Cinéma, Gray
Films
Release date : 5 February 1960
Running time : 174 minutes
Country : Italy, France
Language : Italian, English, French, German
Variety Lights
Produced by : Federico Fellini,
Alberto Lattuada
Screenplay by : Federico
Fellini, Alberto Lattuada, Tullio Pinelli
Ennio Flaiano
Story by : Federico Fellini
Starring : Peppino De Filippo,
Carla Del Poggio
Cinematography : Otello
Martelli
Edited by : Mario Bonotti
Release date : 12 January 1951
Running time : 97 minutes
Country : Italy
I Vitelloni
Produced by : Lorenzo Pegoraro,
Mario De Vecchi, Jacques Bar
Story by : Federico Fellini, Tullio
Pinelli
Music by : Nino Rota
Cinematography : Carlo Carlini,
Otello Martelli, Luciano Trasatti
Edited by : Rolando Benedetti
Distributed by : Janus Films
Release date : 26 August 1953
Running time : 103 minutes
Country : Italy
Language : Italian
La Strada
Produced by : Dino De
Laurentiis, Carlo Ponti
Story by : Federico Fellini, Tullio
Pinelli
Music by : Nino Rota
Cinematography : Otello
Martelli, Carlo Carlini
Edited by : Leo Catozzo
Production company : Ponti-De Laurentiis
Cinematografica
Distributed by : Paramount
Pictures
Release date : 6 September
1954
Running time : 104 minutes
Country : Italy
Language : Italian
Il bidone
Produced by : Mario Derecchi
Music by : Nino Rota
Cinematography : Otello
Martelli
Edited by : Mario Serandrei, Giuseppe
Vari
Production company : Titanus, Société
Générale de Cinématographie
Distributed by : Titanus
Distribuzione
Release date : 9 September
1955
Running time : 109 minutes
Country : Italy
Language : Italian
Nights of Cabiria
Produced by : Dino De
Laurentiis
Music by : Nino Rota, Pasquale
Bonagura
Cinematography : Aldo Tonti
Edited by : Leo Cattozzo
Release date : 10 May 1957
Running time : 118 minutes
Country : Italy, France
Language : Italian
8 1/2
Produced by : Angelo Rizzoli
Music by : Nino Rota
Cinematography : Gianni Di
Venanzo
Edited by : Leo Catozzo
Production company : Cineriz, Francinex
Release date : 14 February
1963
Running time : 138 minutes
Country : Italy, France
Language : Italian
Juliet of the Spirits
Produced by : Angelo Rizzoli
Cinematography : Gianni Di
Venanzo
Edited by : Ruggero
Mastroianni
Release date : 22 October 1965
Running time : 144 minutes
Country : Italy, France
Language : Italian, French
Amarcord
Produced by : Franco Cristaldi
Written by : Federico Fellini,
Tonino Guerra
Music by : Nino Rota
Cinematography : Giuseppe
Rotunno
Edited by : Ruggero
Mastroianni
Distributed by : PIC
Distribuzione (IT), Warner Bros. (International)
Release date : 18 December
1973
Running time : 124 minutes
Country : Italy, France
Language : Italian
To be continued...
