Key Facts
full title · 8 1/2 (original: Otto
e mezzo)
director · Federico Fellini
leading actors/actresses · Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimée, Sandra Milo, Mario
Pisu
supporting actors/actresses · Claudia Cardinale, Barbara Steele, Rossella Falk, Madeline LeBeau
type of work · Feature film
genre · Auteur; drama; comedy
language · Italian (with occasional French and English)
time and place produced · May–October 1962 in Rome and
Ostia, Italy
awards · 1963 Moscow International Film
Festival:
· Winner, Grand Prix (Federico Fellini)
· 1963 National Board of Review
(United States):
· Winner, Best Foreign Language Film
· 1963 New York Film Critics’
Circle Awards:
· Winner, Best Foreign Language Film
· 1964 Academy Awards:
· Winner, Best Costume Design, Black and White (Piero
Gherardi)
· Winner, Best Foreign Film
· 1964 Bodil Awards:
· Winner, Best European Film (Federico Fellini)
· 1964 Italian National Syndicate
of Film Journalists:
· Winner, Best Cinematography, Black and White (Gianni
Di Venanzo)
· Winner, Best Director (Federico Fellini)
· Winner, Best Original Story (Federico Fellini and Ennio
Flaiano)
· Winner, Best Producer (Angelo Rizzoli)
· Winner, Best Score (Nino Rota)
· Winner, Best Screenplay (Federico Fellini, Brunello
Rondi, Tullio Pinelli, and Ennio Flaiano)
· Winner, Best Supporting Actress (Sandra Milo)
· 1965 Kinema Junpo Awards:
· Winner, Best Foreign Language Film (Federico Fellini)
· Winner, Best Foreign Language Film Director (Federico
Fellini)
dates of release · February 1963 (Italy), June 1963 (United
States)
producer · Angelo Rizzoli
setting (time) · Early 1960s
setting (place) · A small spa town in Italy, near the coast
protagonist · Guido Anselmi
major conflict · Guido must decide what he wants his next movie to say
and whether he can save his marriage.
rising action · Guido’s cowriter despises his script, the leading actresses
seem wrong for their roles, Guido’s wife Luisa is fed up with his indecision,
and as the shooting dates approach Guido is overwhelmed by pressure
and wants to quit.
climax · Guido realizes that his original ideas were wrong,
fires his leading actress, and quits the film.
falling action · Guido begins a new, more truthful film and asks Luisa
to forgive him.
themes · The fear of aging; the tyranny of the mind; the frivolity
of society
motifs · Female sensuality; Catholicism; professional stress
symbols · Guido’s nose; the rocket launch pad; the rope; the
spring
foreshadowing · The construction of the absurd rocket launch set foreshadows the
ultimate collapse and disintegration of the film Guido is working
on.
