Juliet of the Spirits (1965)

I loved this movie. For me, as a relatively new student of Fellini, I understand that there is a progression in his films over the years. His initial films are more generally coherent stories like "La Strada" and then his later films are more focused on the visual and surreal, like "8 1/2".

This movie is somewhere in between. There is the coherent storyline of Juliet and her philandering husband and all the other strange characters in her life, like family and friends, but then there is also the psychedelic and surreal element of the spirit world that Juliet is in close contact with everyday.

Masina is great as usual--she acts a lot just with her eyes and the expressions on her face.

This film is just a delight. My suggestion is that you don't try to analyze it too deeply. Just sit back and let the colors, settings, costumes, and larger than life characters wash over you.

Fmovies: I cannot wait to get my hands on my next adventure into the world of Fellini. I was more than impressed, I was captivated. I watched Giulietta degli spiriti (aka Juliet of the Spirits) and I couldn't help but think of other directors that have used Fellini's tactic in today's modern cinema. I think the reason I enjoyed this film so much is because I love the work of these directors, and I could see the homage they were paying in their films to Fellini. I am speaking of directors like David Lynch, Oliver Stone, and Akira Kurosawa. The colors, the images, and the overall elements of this film are original and provocative at the same time. You wouldn't expect this film a film created in 1965. I didn't when I put this film into the DVD player, but then I wasn't sure what to expect when I put Fellini into the player.

The colors are one of the boldest marks of the film. For this to be Fellini's first color film he pulls it off like a professional. The darkened shades to represent insecurity and the unknown, while the bold colors represent happiness and control. You wouldn't expect these emotions could be combined with ease, but Fellini's master brush never misses a beat. This film is told through its colors. From the opening scene where Juliet is choosing which color hair to wear, all the way to the ending where she leaves the bright white house into the darkened unknown, it is the vivacious colors that lead us from point A to point B. The characters are important, but these colors are used to represent the true emotions of the characters even when they are lying to themselves. These colors tell the truth and Fellini controls them.

I was always a believer that Oliver Stone's style of film-making was absurd and at times random, but little did I know that his odd placement of certain images is nothing more than a deep homage to Fellini. Since I have only seen one film, Giulietta degli spiriti, I can only take reference to it, but there were moments when I could have guessed Stone's hand was somewhere in the process. When Juliet sees the spirits, we are suddenly whisked away to a world of haunting images and imagination. We are afraid, yet excited at the same time. The scenes that come to mind are those when Juliet is at the beach and at the end when she finally confronts her demons. While some may see these as a director's "wet dream", I saw these as an insight into Juliet's character. We learn about her troubles, her life, her childhood, and her fears. It is these spirits that help us understand why Juliet is the way that she is, and why she has trouble leaving her cheating husband. They are a "guardian angel" for Juliet, ensuring that she stays true to whom she is even when times seem to be closing in on her. This is seen when she was about to do something sexually that she had not intention of doing. A moment of revenge saved by a spirit.

This was a magnificent story that could be retold today and appeal to mass audiences. Juliet is the common person, dealing with issues that face us today. The horror of discovering your husband is cheating on you and the spirits that you consult to help. Juliet is neither insane nor crazy, nor would I consider this a "tale of terror". This is a story about a normal person who is placed into extraordinary events that cause her to regress to her childhood. This also brings out the spirits from her childhood to help her in her bumpy path.

This is not to say that this film is without faults. W

No spoilers here, just a simple feeling that I have every time I see a FELINNI movie: "There are movies and there is Fellini" This is an art film, as most of Fellini's movies, so I wont try to explain or comment anything on it, everybody has to have his own vision about the movie. Don't try to explain everything, don't try to see flaws in the screenplay, just take it the way it is: a beautiful fantasy. YES, it is very pretentious, if you don't like it or if you don't understand it that means this movies want not meant for you, but for the rest of us! The Criterion version of this movie is pure perfection, even though the 1 channel sound is not enough to get the full experience of this masterpiece. You'll love it or you'll hate it, there is nothing between!

Juliet of the Spirits fmovies. A reincarnation of the Buddha is said to have described himself as being, "like the moon upon the water...a reflection. Think of me as your self." He said. Many ancient sages have spoke and been written of seeing The One, the holy God of eternity while looking, gazing, or meditating into a river or pond. For just as God separated the light from the darkness. Fellini too has created his own deep symbolic reflections of the Unfathomable One. Some say that this film, 'Giullietta degli spiriti' is the feminine partner of Federico's previous film 8 1/2. 'An Ode To No One', and 'An Ode To One'. Like two mirrors, the two films reflect the Eternal Lovers in Their breaking, and in Their embrace. Fellini's dialogue and metaphors show a great understanding of The Self, The Divine Marriage, The Sacred Mystery. Fellini is one of the few modern artists who greatly understood the purpose and very nature of art itself. All art imitates life, sure, but human life also is merely an interpretation of that which is truly real. It is obvious by Fellini's work that he himself created his art in order to become more real, to become closer to truth. He created in order to see with more depth and to share this with others. Fellini undoubtedly understood the logic in the seemingly illogical words of the great William Blake when he said "If the doors of perception were truly cleansed, everything would appear as it truly is - infinite.". Fellini understood that all art imitates life, but even more so, he understood that all art imitates the Divine. He also understood that only through this kind of conscious introspection can one become closer and closer to our own True Infinite Nature. People who do not follow spiritual disciplines, or who do not know the work of Carl Jung, or who do not have a good understanding of ancient sacred scripture, will likely miss much of the depth in this film. However that is not to say that those people still won't enjoy it. This is the work of a Divinely inspired genius. Some watch this film and are dazzled by the great colour and flamboyant spectacle of it (And why wouldn't you be?), however truly it is the interweaving of dialogue and relationships that speak even louder than the amazing visuals. "For those who have ears, let them hear!"

10/10

Really sort of the female counter part to 8 1/2, It had the same sort of dream/memory/fantasy narrative, and the same sprawling dialogue and humor, the biggest difference was this was about relationships and sexual repression and freedom, had a female lead and was in technicolor, which Fellini really makes great use of, it adds a kelidoscopic psychedelic feel to the whole movie. There really are some amazing visuals and all the dialoge is superb. Though I guess its not so much a female 8 1/2 as it is a caricature of a marriage during the sexual revolution , but it's still a funny and poignant one. Great performances and memory dialog; the sexual revolution as a circus.

One of Fellini's most accessible films (his use of color really helps), he once again plays reality against an active fantasy life... fantasies that combine memory, fears, fleeting desires and the way we imagine the lives of others. For me, one of the things that makes a film 10 star is that it provides something that only film can provide, and this is it; while the presentation is very theatrical, this quick intercutting of time/memory/mood can only be done in film.

While the overall message is a very conservative (pre/anti-feminist) one of it's day, Fellini DOES liberate a woman's fantasy life, and this is the essence of his leading "little woman." The predominant action of the film is in her imagination.

This was the day when middle/upper class Italian women did not work, and Masina represents the "good little woman." Rich enough to have servants, there was little to occupy her time or mind, other than similar friends who have veered to the outre and weird just to have something to do. Masina's character searches more internally, and her fantasies color her vision of the lives of others. (Note that her usual circle of friends are equated with a fantasy of death, and you'll be clued into her psyche as these begin.)

I think you have to have lived a bit to "get" Fillini - I didn't like his work when I was younger - I love this. Also note his use of color as "percieved color" not literal color and this is worth many viewings.

And finally, if you are a larger woman... nothing makes you feel so great about being a large woman as watching Fellini's glorious Amazons!