Customer Reviews

8 1/2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

*81/2" is Fellni's masterpiece as a film director, and with "La Strada," "La Dolce Vita," "Juliet of the Spirits" and "Amarcord," one the finest scores Rota composed for Fellini during his 30-year collaboration (ended only by the composer's death) with the director. I've enjoyed this recording since RCA issued in the U.S. in 1963 and also have the earlier stereo CD version produced by CAM in 1991. The selections are the same here as on the earlier issues. Regrettably, some major cues are missing. La Saraghina's dance, for instance, is heard not from the famed beach sequence, but only in a snippet reprised in the even more famous harem scene. Sadder, the nostalgic underscore, principally for guitar, to Guido's rememberance of one magic night from his boyhood and the wordless vocalise sung over the film's final credits aren't here either. Still, Rota's collage (including everything from music for circus band to some wittily employed selections from Rossini, Tchiakovsky and Wagner) remains potent, amusing and a complete delight.

Nina Rota and Classical music combine to create one of the greatest soundtracks ever. The music will have you reliving fellini's masterpeice every time you hear it. like the film, this score is truly unforgettable.

Nino Rota is, in my mind, the best composer of the latter half of the 19th Century. You don't have to see the films to enjoy the music he composed for them; and much of his classical music has been considerably neglected. The audio to the soundtrack to 8 1/2 is outdated and if you want a version of La Passerella di addio to impress, you're better off with the Riccardo Muti conducted version on Music for Film or the Carla Bley arrangement on the recent Bravo Nino Rota CD by the Australian group the Umbrellas, or the original on Amarcord Nino Rota. Despite there being a wide range of improved interpretations of the main theme, the original soundtrack to 8 1/2 still has major importance to the Rota and Fellini emphusiast. Variations such as L'Harem, and tracks such as Guido E Luisa Nostalgico Swing and E Poi (Valzer) make for a delicious soundtrack, that would become a passion of Elmer Bernstein's. In terms of today's audio quality, you'd be unimpressed. But this is of no deterrance to a collector of classic film scores, a category which 8 1/2 indisputably falls under.

The score to Fellini's 8 1/2 is a score I fell in love with ... perhaps sitting thru 3 playings of Juliet of the Spirit and 2 of 8 1/2 as my first introduction to Fellini (in 1966) indicates more than usual fervor. While other films have replaced 8 1/2 as best script, best cinematography, etc., the pairing of Rota's La passerella di addio with Fellini's "march" is still my favorite pairing of music and screen image. Yes, La Saraghina's dance is missing - another brilliant pairing of music and screen image - but ... much as I love the score, I believe that the music and image are so intertwined that one should need to return to the film. The soundtrack alone is a fragment of the total intended effect; delightful in its own right, a stimulus for playing the film images through one's own mind, but not a substitute for the original.

(Yes, there are soundtracks I am willing to completely divorce from their play or film. This simply is not one.)

Nino Rota was a unique composer, perhaps, the greatest melodist of the last century. His magic tunes are sweet and melodius, gentle and rhythmical, melancholic and playful. As with every movie Fellini and Rota had worked together on, "8 1/2", a perfect masterpiece is accompanied by a perfect score which is indelible part of the movie. Every melody either written by Rota for the movie - the main theme, La Passerella, Guido and Luisa's Swing, Carlotta's Gallop, the medley of L'Harem or skillfully adapted by him incredibly charming Gigolettes da "La Danza Delle Libellule" by F. Lehar, Sinfonia Da "La Barbiere di Siviglia" by G. Rossini, "The Waltz of the Flowers" from "The Sleeping Beauty" by P. Tchaikovsky, and " Flight of the Valkyrie " by R. Wagner reflect every emotion of Guido, the main character, and bring to life his every memory, bitter, sweet, regretful, or embarrassing. The only reason I can't give this CD a perfect score is the very noticeable omission. Undeniably, the greatest, the most memorable track of the whole movie, La Saraghina's Rumba, her lurid dance on the beach is not included in its entirety in the content of the otherwise enjoyable disc. The bits of Rumba can be heard on the track 10, L'Harem. It is better than nothing but it is the big disappointment for me because the beach scene with its music is the most powerful and moving scene for me in the whole movie.

I guess it is very unlikely that anyone would come to this page without being total admiror of one of the brightest Jewels of Italian Neo Realism, 8 1/2.

If you still do not own a copy of the movie, do it all together with this soundtrack, ( I recommend the exellent Criterion, 2 disks, DVD version, which is loaded with wonderful extras, including a wonderful interview with " Carla " ( Sandra Milo ), who amazingly was Guido's ( Fellini's! ) lover, not only in the movie, but in real life as well.

The music and arrangements by Rota, could no better suit this wonderful cinematic masterpiece. Buy them both.

I searched for this CD because I enjoyed the film and its soundtrack. I wanted to hear the enjoyable music played during the dance scene at the beach. Now I realize the music is NOT included. The above reviewers obviously wanted to hear it too. They mentioned the missing music. I'm mentioning it further. I won't keep this version! I'll look harder to see if I can find another release. If you are interested in this soundtrack for the same missing music, then I advise you to look elsewhere.

the excellent soundtrack to the movie - minus the music for serafina's dance: makes it totally frustrating

A classic, wondrous soundtrack, and worth every penny. If "Saraghina's Rumba" is missing, the musical accompaniment to the prostitute's dance on the beach, it may be because Nino Rota didn't write it. I haven't been able to track it down yet, but I'm pretty sure that a different version of the song was used in a Michael Powell film that predates "8 1/2"-- does anyone know anything about this? Buy this soundtrack regardless. Brilliant.

Rota's themes here are classics,and range from playful to serious.well worth the extra price for an import!