Customer Reviews

The White Sheik [VHS]

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

 

 

Perception is reality. So goes the current slogan. And this movie addresses that slogan in at least two ways.

First, there is the history of this movie's reception. When first released, it was basically ignored as a minor and un-engaging comedy. Now, knowing that its creator is a genius, people see it presciently as the budding of a master. Which view is correct?

Second, there is the content/form/imagery of the movie itself. The movie abounds with occasions for alternate perceptions: Sick wife or missing wife? Abandonment or accidental delay? White Sheik or fake? A drunk man or a grieving man at a fountain? And so on.

The movie begins with a newly-wed couple arriving in Rome to meet the groom's extended family, family who will take them on a tight-scheduled site-seeing tour or Rome, ending with a meeting with the pope. While the husband naps in the hotel room, the wife slips out to try to quickly see her fantasy hero, the White Sheik who is the main character in a photo-based cartoon strip (popular in Italy in those days). While she is on her unexpectedly long quest, the husand awakes to discover his wife gone. Then three sets of perceptions ensue: the wife's perception of the White Sheik, the husband's perception of his wife's absence, and the husband's family's perception of the husbands's explanation for the wife's absence. (Phew! That's a lot of perceiving!)

Many of these sets of perception are presented to us in fantastic or humorous imagery. The first time we meet the White Sheik, he is on a swing, high and lifted up between trees, in the middle of nowhere. A wide-eyed groom, wanting desparately to "keep up appearances" to maintain family honor, is surprised and frantic (and lying) at almost every turn. The groom's family are in the dark through all of the movie. A fire-breathing man wanders the shadowy streets in the middle of the night. And more.

In most of the foregoing cases, the movie makes clear to us, the audience, which is illusion and which is reality. It is the people in the movie who do not know that their peceptions may be askew. But not everything is clear to us. The next day, for example, the newly-wed groom gives a brief accounting of his behavior during the previous night. Is he telling the truth? Neither we the audience nor the people in the movie know. Their and our assessments will depend on . . . perception. And these and other issues of perception all take place, as does the entire movie, in the shadow of an anticipated "audience" with the pope -- another larger-than-life man who wears white.

Opportunities for perceptions abound.

Fellini has characters in this movie say more than once that life is a dream. Is a dream the same as an illusion or a perception? The movie simply depicts various scenarios in which, about half the time, the illusion is more desirable than the reality. Thinking back now on the White Sheik on the swing, I am reminded of the words of the song, " . . . or whould you like to swing on a star, carry moonbeams home in a jar, and be better off than you are, or would you rather . . . " But that's just my free association.

Two elements in this movie make it so effective. One element is that the people are real, actual, identifiable people: an actor is an actor, a wife is a wife, a husband is a husband, an extended family is an extended family, a pope is a pope. They are not "made-up" stick figures standing for or standing in for something else. And yet . . . they tell us about so much more than themselvs. They are what Dorothy Sayers, in the introduction to her translation of Dante's "Divine Comedy," calls "symbolic images" instead of "allegorical figures," which is why Dante's work is so effective -- just like this work by another Italian.

The other element that makes this movie so effective is the humor. The film has a light and jaunty feel. It amuses, so we relax. Oddly, by relaxing and not thinking too hard about ("figuring out") what we are watching, we enter into the scenarios more easily, allowing unfolding issues to seep into us more immediately.

I think this movie is perfect. It is complete and self-contained and stops when it has acheieved its end. It is what it is and nothing more -- or less. It is amusingly disarming in its seeming simplicity. Even a small gem is a gem, and this one sparkles.

PS Viewing this movie in conjunction with Woody Allen's "Shadows and Fog" could be instructive (as well as amusing).

This is a glorious trasfer of one of Fellini's earliest films. This film is much more simple and light than many of Fellini's subsequent films, but it has a charm all of its own. The fairly straightforward story holds very few surprises or twists, but it also a nice exploration of fantasy vs. reality. The introduction of the White Sheik sitting in his swing, high in the air is a wonderful moment. As the film goes on, the dashing sheik just becomes to us an overweight and vain man and our illusions, like the young wife's, are dashed. Variations of this story have been done many times, but this is one of the most pure and enjoyable.

The film is also notable for the introduction of Cabiria (Giulietta Masina) who would have her own Fellini film a few years after. It's not a very long scene, and it is included in its entirety on the "Nights of Cabiria" DVD by Criterion. Despite that, this is still a DVD worth owning to watch a master filmmaker get used to his craft.

A most comic and human film, "The White Sheik" was apparently Fellini's first and, for sheer enjoyment, beats anything he did after the great "Nights of Cabiria." It made me laugh almost non-stop from start to finish.

Ivan and Wanda are a young newlywed couple from a small town-- checking into a hotel in Rome. Ivan, rather nervous and ambitious, has their honeymoon planned to the minuto--most to be spent with his relatives, including Uncle who has connections to the Vatican. Wanda, a dreamer, is taken by stories and pictures in a certain periodical. She learns from the porter the location of the publisher is only 10 minutes away. She can't resist! When Ivan takes a nap she is off for a visit. Arriving, she soon finds the characters of her dream stories in the flesh and in costume, for they are preparing to make a film. Felga! Oscar! The Cruel Bedouin! Most of all Wanda wants to meet the White Sheik for she has made a drawing of him and wants him to have it.

In the meantime Ivan, thinking Wanda was in the bath, awakens to find her gone. The relatives (all of them) soon arrive. Ivan, so anxious to show off his new wife, is perplexed at her absence and doesn't know what to say to the family. One comic event after another follows.

In a memorable scene, Ivan meets Cabiria (yes, the one we know) although he does not initiate or even consummate an affair with her as another reviewer claims. To do so would be totally out of character.

Speaking of characters, there is a great supporting cast--from the hotel clerk ("Postcard?"); the respectable Uncle ("Man to man...tell me what's happening"); the film director (shouting: "Take out the concubines! Bring on the camel!"); and, of course, the White Sheik, a sort of 1950s Flavio with his square jawed good looks and rich mane of hair. This is a great film and is highly recommended.

THE WHITE SHEIK is Federico Fellini's 1951 solo directorial debut. When I think of a Fellini movie, the first things that come to mind are: the image of someone in diaphanous material floating across the screen, people in antiquated circus-like costumes and a main character who escapes into a fantasy that turns out to have a poignant impact in his or her real life. All these elements are part of the texture of The White Sheik.

A provincial couple come to Rome on their honeymoon. Ivan the groom has made an unromantic schedule of appointments for them. Wanda the young bride, an avid fan of the widely read soap opera photo-comic strips called fumetti, sneaks out of the hotel for a few hours to meet her comic book idol, The White Sheik, and give him a drawing she made. It's all innocent but one thing leads to another and she inadvertently gets taken to a distant photo shoot where the sleazy actor playing the sheik comes on to the bride, now dressed as a harem girl. Meanwhile in Rome, her distraught husband seeks to keep his bride's disappearance a secret from visiting relatives and a scheduled visit with the pope. Look for Fellini's wife, actress Giulietta Masina in a small role as the prostitute Cabiria. A few years later, Masina starred in Fellini's masterpiece, the heartbreaking NIGHTS OF CABIRIA (Criterion). Nino Rota, who became a long term Fellini collaborator, composed the evocative score.

The White Shiek has suffered little over time. I think Fellini saw life as a bittersweet fantasy full of slapstick and hope. A pretty good definition.

Additional material includes a recent interview with the two stars who reminisce about their magical time with Fellini in Rome half a century ago. Recommended

"The White Sheik" is about a young couple on their honeymoon. Ivan and Wanda Cavalli go to Rome, so she can meet his family, but, what Ivan doesn't know is, she secretly wants to meet "The White Sheik" (Alberto Sordi), a comic book character! Wanda (Brunella Bovo) sneaks out of their room to go find "The Sheik". And Ivan (Leopoldo Trieste) is stuck trying to figure out a good excuse as to why his bride can't see his family. For a foreign movie, and for a film made by Fellini, this is actually quite funny. Their are nice performances by the characters, and good directing by Fellini. This would make a nice start in your collection of Fellini's films.

The script was done by four people, including Fellini, but, also fammed Italian director Michelango Antonioni co-wrote this script as well! And anyone familiar with him will find this to be a shock. Also Giulietta Masina (Fellini's wife) is in this movie as well. She plays a character named Cabiria. Fellini would later make a movie around this character in his masterpiece "Nights of Cabiria".

This is a delightful Frederico Fellini Criterion Collection black and white Italian movie. A just-married nervous couple from the countryside arrives in Rome where the husband (Ivan) has arranged to introduce his bride (Wanda) to important family relatives, tour major attractions, and meet the Pope. The bride, however has her own ideas about what is important to see in Rome, and they include a quick visit to a magazine studio where she has been corresponding with an actor known for his highly romantic photographed role as the White Sheik. Unbeknownst to Ivan, Wanda is utterly star-struck by this actor, avidly reading every magazine and memorizing verbatim all his stories.

The movie has hilarious moments that stand the test of time. When Wanda disappears and Ivan has no idea what has happened to her, he is forced into the most ridiculous excuses to cover her absence. Wanda meanwhile has actually met the White Sheik and initially his charm is every bit as potent as his magazine image and soon she finds herself starring with him.

As Wanda's fantasy fades in the face of reality, we see the white sheik as he really is: an overly vain buffoon. The story is imaginative, funny and touching, and apparently Fellini's debut as a director. Well-worth watching.

Any time I can view an Italian movie whether it has subtitles or not I try
to add it to our Italian home library. It is a wonderful way to learn
the language.

This black and white film was absolutely delightful, the tale of a movie star
smitten girl who meets her idol while on her honeymoon in Italy. A must
see for those who are Italian or have been to Italy.

While honeymooning in Rome, a young bride (Wanda),dazzled by glamour and illusion, escapes the security of her future by running off with a photo-novel actor who portrays a seductive "White Sheik", to whom she writes often signing herself as "the pasionate doll". Soon, she finds reality sneaking into her romantic fantasy. Disappointed by the average quality of her idol, she goes back to her husband (Trieste) who, meanwhile, has initiated an affair with a prostitute (Cabiria) and her friend. This is the first film for which Fellini has completely responsibility as a director: Through the vicissitude of little provincial persons who discover factory-dreams, Fellini inaugurates that autobiographic element and that fancy inclination which will be constant of his cinemas. Sordi (the "White Sheik") is an irresistible seductor to excess while at the same time enslaved by his wife.

This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

"The White Shiek" known in Italian as "Lo Sceicco Bianco" is Federico Fellini's solo directorial debut, and his second overall film.

I found the film somewhat melodramatic but it has some humor in it. In the film a recently married couple go on a homeymoon in Rome. They have a tight schedule and the wife wants to meet "The White Sheik" the performer in a photo strip cartoon. When they meet, marital infidelity is suspected.

The only special feature on the DVD is a set of interviews with two actors and a Fellini biographer.

While it is a nice film, it would likely be appreciated more by those especially interested in Fellini's work.

Like Fitzgerald and his perfect Gatsby, Fellini learned early on how to set up a deeply satisfying ending. 8 1/2, La Dolce Vita. Cabiria. Wow! What wonderful endings.

On that note, this movie is political. It seriously questions the idea of marriage. But we only realize this in the final scene. And we know it because of a few clues.

First is the word play. The Taxi driver asks to be paid, and the uncle asks Ivan, ?Are you done paying?? I?m guessing Ivan has just begun to pay for his decision ? to get married.

Then there is the classic Fellini image of procession. The couple is reunited in the end, they have gotten away with their little embarrassment, unscathed, and they run to catch up with the rest of humanity on it's insanely habitual march to who-knows-where. This is an image which comes back many times with Fellini and is certainly intentional.

And finally is the obvious alignment up of the taunting flute-trill, at the end of the score, with the image of the statue looking down on man, creating a moment of laughter, or even mockery, from above. This moment is essential to understanding this movie, and is well intact in the VHS copy, but on the DVD the music has been shifted, so the music and image of the statue no longer line up! Seem trivial? Perhaps. God knows Criterion has made the world a much, much better place, so I don't blame them. But I believe the mistake is there.

All the same this is a great movie and the extra features are nice.