The Cinema of Federico Fellini [Hardcover]

Peter E. Bondanella (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1992

This artistic biography of the Italian film-maker Federico Fellini shows how his imagination has been shaped by popular culture, literature and his encounter with the ideas of C G Jung, especially Jungian dream interpretation. Covering Fellini's entire career, the book links his mature accomplishments to his first employment as a cartoonist, gagman and sketch-artist during the Fascist era and his development as a leading neo-realist scriptwriter. Peter Bondanella thoroughly explores key Fellinian themes to reveal the director's growth not only as an artistic master of the visual image but also as an astute interpreter of culture and politics. Throughout the book Bondanella draws on a new archive of several dozen manuscripts, obtained from Fellini and his scriptwriters. These previously unexamined documents allow a comprehensive treatment of Fellini's important part in the rise of Italian neo-realism and the even more decisive role that he played in the evolution of Italian cinema beyond neo-realism in the 1950s. After two chapters on Fellini's pre-cinematic career, the book covers all the films to 1991 in analytical chapters arranged by topic: Fellini and his growth beyond his neo-

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Bondanella (Italian and film studies, Indiana Univ.) is a well-published authority on Italian films and Federico Fellini. Here he presents a complex, academic analysis of the director's entire oeuvre , drawing on newly available archival material. Fellini's reputation as a somewhat arrogant, dictatorial genius is further reinforced. Particularly interesting are the examinations of the significant influence of psychologist Carl Jung's writings on Fellini's artistic development and the enduring relevance of Fellini's early career as a cartoonist. This demanding study is recommended for subject collections. The best introductory volume is still Stuart Rosenthal's The Cinema of Federico Fellini ( LJ 12/15/76), but it is out of print.
-Richard W. Grefrath, Univ. of Nevada Lib., Reno
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

Offers rare insight into the life and times of one of the screen's most imaginative auteurs. . . . Like its subject's best efforts, the book is as entertaining as it is enriching. -- Variety

Peter Bondanella, an esteemed scholar of Italian film, has committed an act of daring. It's the best kind of daring - unselfconscious and authentic. . . Courageous in ideational independence, he is equally steadfast in his enterprise - to understand and explicate and important artist's process. He does this to an impressive degree, not with clinical smugness but with relish and respect. His book is a loving and helpful tribute. -- The New Republic --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 367 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr (April 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691031967
• ISBN-13: 978-0691031965
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,889,129 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Until his retirement in 2007, Peter Bondanella was Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature, Film Studies, and Italian at Indiana University. A member of the European Academy of Sciences and the Arts and past President of the American Association for Italian Studies, Bondanella has written numerous books and articles on Italian literature and cinema and has translated or edited a number of Italian literary classics (Dante, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Cellini, Vasari). His latest works are A HISTORY OF ITALIAN CINEMA and NEW ESSAYS ON UMBERTO ECO (Eco is shown in the photo on the left with Bondanella on the right). Bondanella now lives in Utah's desert country (St. George, UT) with his two Italian greyhounds Dante and Gianluca and his wife Julia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Please open your books to page one...", December 18, 2003

By 

Lao Che (Central New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cinema of Federico Fellini (Paperback)

I've been a fanatic over Federico's work since I first saw FELLINI ROMA in a classroom one Friday night in college. I came across a poster advertising the scheduled screening; it was an image from one of the last, most unsettling scenes in the film - a very Catholic fashion show. My interest was piqued enough to spend an evening in a classroom rather than other social pursuits; and what a classroom it was. I was one of maybe three people in the room that night. I can't explain in words what I saw on the screen - it was simply incredible. It felt like my world opened a little bit more; my own dreams and ideas didn't seem quite so ridiculous.

I started to hunt down other films by this director, reading articles, reviews, anything. I eventually came across Mr. Bondanella's book, and found it to be a wonderful companion piece to the work of Fellini. It reads like a textbook, but his incites into the craft and visions of Fellini are wonderful. That said, I didn't take his interpretations as gospel - this book provides an excellent jumping off point into understanding Fellini's world - the fantasies and the world that inspired them.

I recommend this book highly to fans of Fellini and students of film in general - a fantastic document. It attempts, and I think succeeds, to capture the story of a rare kind of brilliance.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If I could I'd give this 8 1/2 stars., December 3, 2004

By 

Brad Paul "letmarthalive" (Crawfordsville, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Cinema of Federico Fellini (Paperback)

An excellent discourse on Fellini's development as a director and his creative process. Bondanella knew Fellini personally and saved many items revealing the interworkings of Fellini's creativity that would have otherwise been destroyed by Fellini himself. Recommended to any and all film students or film buffs.