YOU PROBABLY WON'T LIKE THIS MOVIE
Added 6/18/2009
I loved this movie --- it ranks with Fellini's best as far as I'm concerned. But the caveat here is that most movie viewers probably don't have the patience for Fellini's vision in this film or most of the body of his work. The story here is simple enough. It's a sweet story that could have been done by any other straight-forward director as a serious drama, a comedy, or even a musical. But why do it that way when you can make it a wacked out surrealistic dream vision of a film complete with midgets, transvestites, beautiful people, and the whole gamut of individuals that make the world the wonderfully various place it is. The vision concerns the decay of the modern world and the modern mind, alienation as brought to you by television, and the wistful longing for a past that is gone and perhaps was really never how we envision it now. The layers of the film's cinematography, dialogue as pertains to the story, absurdist antidialogue, sets and costuming, and every other aspect makes the film call for repeated watching. The acting is superb. The music is typically whimsical and lovely as any Fellini film.
"Fred and Ginger" will rank high on my list of favorite films. But as I have warned, if your movies have to have action and traditional storylines then you may not appreciate this one, especially since it's in Italian with subtitles. But if you think you would enjoy watching a story presented in a manner akin to watching a dream (not a nightmare)full of strange visuals and off the wall ideas and dialogue then I would encourage you to give this a chance. I would compare Fellini's film to those of David Lynch except without the perversion, violence, and darkness. Fellini is more like Lynch at the circus. Before there was David Lynch, there was Fellini.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Great story, well told.
Added 8/27/2007
There are some Fellini films I've found to be brilliant, but incoherent. This is not one of them. A great, funny, tragic story, well told and unforgettable.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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MASINA AND MASTROIANNI
Added 5/26/2007
Federico Fellini's take on modern show biz stars real life wife, Giulietta Masina, (Nights of Cabiria), and Fellini mainstay, Marcello Mastroianni, (City of Women), as a former dance team reunited 30 years later for an appearance on a TV variety show. It's a funny and touching look at culture clash between the two has-beens, and a young show biz world intent on instantaneous gratification. Masina makes "Nights of Cabiria", (if you've never seen it, do so), vocal references every time she says Pippo's, (Mastroianni), name (it sounds like her cry to her lover after he tries to drown her in "Cabiria"), but even at this late stage of her acting career, Giulietta Masina seems much more capable than the soft shoe performance she offers here; aside from a youthful exhuberance at the thought of returning to the stage with her former partner, her character remains stoic. Mastroianni's character has more depth, (he's a drunk, a louse, a flirt), but the empty subplot regarding his mental health history may make him more complex, but he remains unrevealed. During the low-key Casablanca-like ending at a train station, one begins to suspect the chemistry between them goes no further than the sparks from their tapping shoes. Still, watching two of Fellini's favorite actors in what amounts to fish out of water submerged in the fast lane of superficial show biz has a dreamlike quality based in a glaring realm that is always, if nothing else, Fellini.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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This is finally coming out, but only dubbed in English? I hope the advance info is wrong about that. Otherwise, I can't wait to see a new print of this.
4 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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Fantastic! Fantastic! Guilietta and Mastroianni shine!
Added 1/21/2005
This is up there with my other favorite Fellini films (City of Women, Juliet of the Spirits) and is a shame it hasn't been re-mastered and released on DVD. It truly deserves it. Unbeknownst to us, a friend and I watched this for the first time on Fellini's birthday (January 20). This is one of Fellini's most straight forwardly hilarious films. We laughed throughout its entirety. What makes Ginger and Fred so special is Guilietta Masina and Marcello Mastroianni, Fellini's two favorite actors. They shine so brightly and have such wonderful chemistry, it's a shame this is the only film they have done together. The plot, what little there is, revolves around Masina as Amelia, a Ginger Rogers impersonator and Mastroianni as Pippo, a Fred Astaire impersonator pairing up after 40 years to appear on a television Christmas special. Amelia longs for her past glory days and still carries a torch for Pippo. Pippo, however, longs for one thing: the bottle. As the two meet again and prepare for their final moment in the spotlight we're thrust into a typically surreal Fellini world. We have American and Italian movie star impersonators, a van full of dancing midgets, blackouts, a transvestite who wants to get pregnant, wild sets, a cow with 20 teats, weird tv commercials and lots of young and beautiful stylish women. The movie ends with a touch of neo-realism but what a beautiful, surreally fantastic visual ride it is. When my friend and I realized we watched Ginger and Fred on Fellini's birthday it added an extra poignancy to the experience. No one will ever come close to his brilliance and talent. Fellini, you are missed.
4 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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YOU PROBABLY WON'T LIKE THIS MOVIE
Added 6/18/2009
I loved this movie --- it ranks with Fellini's best as far as I'm concerned. But the caveat here is that most movie viewers probably don't have the patience for Fellini's vision in this film or most of the body of his work. The story here is simple enough. It's a sweet story that could have been done by any other straight-forward director as a serious drama, a comedy, or even a musical. But why do it that way when you can make it a wacked out surrealistic dream vision of a film complete with midgets, transvestites, beautiful people, and the whole gamut of individuals that make the world the wonderfully various place it is. The vision concerns the decay of the modern world and the modern mind, alienation as brought to you by television, and the wistful longing for a past that is gone and perhaps was really never how we envision it now. The layers of the film's cinematography, dialogue as pertains to the story, absurdist antidialogue, sets and costuming, and every other aspect makes the film call for repeated watching. The acting is superb. The music is typically whimsical and lovely as any Fellini film.
"Fred and Ginger" will rank high on my list of favorite films. But as I have warned, if your movies have to have action and traditional storylines then you may not appreciate this one, especially since it's in Italian with subtitles. But if you think you would enjoy watching a story presented in a manner akin to watching a dream (not a nightmare)full of strange visuals and off the wall ideas and dialogue then I would encourage you to give this a chance. I would compare Fellini's film to those of David Lynch except without the perversion, violence, and darkness. Fellini is more like Lynch at the circus. Before there was David Lynch, there was Fellini.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
Great story, well told.
Added 8/27/2007
There are some Fellini films I've found to be brilliant, but incoherent. This is not one of them. A great, funny, tragic story, well told and unforgettable.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
MASINA AND MASTROIANNI
Added 5/26/2007
Federico Fellini's take on modern show biz stars real life wife, Giulietta Masina, (Nights of Cabiria), and Fellini mainstay, Marcello Mastroianni, (City of Women), as a former dance team reunited 30 years later for an appearance on a TV variety show. It's a funny and touching look at culture clash between the two has-beens, and a young show biz world intent on instantaneous gratification. Masina makes "Nights of Cabiria", (if you've never seen it, do so), vocal references every time she says Pippo's, (Mastroianni), name (it sounds like her cry to her lover after he tries to drown her in "Cabiria"), but even at this late stage of her acting career, Giulietta Masina seems much more capable than the soft shoe performance she offers here; aside from a youthful exhuberance at the thought of returning to the stage with her former partner, her character remains stoic. Mastroianni's character has more depth, (he's a drunk, a louse, a flirt), but the empty subplot regarding his mental health history may make him more complex, but he remains unrevealed. During the low-key Casablanca-like ending at a train station, one begins to suspect the chemistry between them goes no further than the sparks from their tapping shoes. Still, watching two of Fellini's favorite actors in what amounts to fish out of water submerged in the fast lane of superficial show biz has a dreamlike quality based in a glaring realm that is always, if nothing else, Fellini.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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