#498: Impaired Visions, Pt. 1 — 8 1/2

Radu Jude’s DRACULA is, technically speaking, yet another movie about one of the most depicted antagonists in all of cinema, but in actuality it’s about a different beast that has fascinated filmmakers for nearly as long: filmmaking. Within the grand tradition of “movies about moviemaking,” DRACULA’s surreal humor, combined with its focus on a struggling filmmaker fantasizing about the film he might make, gave us an excuse to revisit an all-time classic of the form, Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2. So this week we search for meaning within 8 1/2’s reveries of a blocked creative mind, interrogate the “semi” part of Fellini’s semi-autobiographical approach, and touch on some of the other films that exist in the shadow of this one. Then in Feedback, our recent pairing of RUNNING ON EMPTY and ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER inspires a supplementary-listening suggestion for the former, and a head canon explanation for one of our questions about the latter.
Please share your thoughts about 8 1/2, DRACULA, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.
Intro: 00:00:00-00:05:12
8 1/2 Keynote: 00:05:12-00:11:39
8 1/2 Discussion: 00:11:39-48:26
Feedback/outro: 00:48:26-end

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