1960s: 10 Films That Defined the Decade

Easy Rider, Raybert Productions

5. 8 1/2 (1963)

8 1/2, Francinex
Image: Francinex

Federico Fellini’s semi-autobiographical film 8 1/2 is groundbreaking. In the 1960s, American audiences turned their eyes more and more towards Europe to see where the future of film was headed.

Men like Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, and Jean-Luc Godard were taking film to newer and greater heights.

Fellini’s fascination with Surrealism reached its zenith creatively with 8 1/2.

8 1/2, Francinex
Image: Francinex

Darkly humorous, the world in the tale closely resembles a metaphorical zoo. Fellini played no favorites though. Like fellow surrealist Luis Bunuel, Fellini’s characters belonged more in a zoo than polite society.

Checkout the plot, via Wikipedia:

(8 1/2 is) ” a 1963 Italian surrealist comedy-drama film directed by Federico Fellini and co-scripted by Fellini, Tullio PinelliEnnio Flaiano, and Brunello Rondi.

It stars Marcello Mastroianni as Guido Anselmi, a famous Italian film director who suffers from stifled creativity as he attempts to direct an epic science fiction film. “

8 1/2, Francinex
Image: Francinex

Fellini’s 8 1/2‘s a visual and literary masterpiece that shines a bright light on the true face of the jet-set. He shows us surrealism is the only tool available to see the truth.

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