Book review: Fellini biography examines renowned filmmaker’s seminal ’60s output
Federico Fellini is synonymous with art-house cinema, and the decade of his greatest creativity is captured in a handsome book full of rare and unseen images
by Manoah Bowman
Running Press
4 stars
For Federico Fellini aficionados, the lavishly illustrated new book Fellini: The Sixties is the equivalent of a mouth-watering plate of spaghetti and a glass of the best Chianti.
It’s a fantastic voyage into the magical world of one of cinema’s greatest masters, who during his career was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, receiving an honorary Oscar in 1993 “in recognition of his cinematic accomplishments that have thrilled and entertained worldwide audiences”.
Four of his films La Strada, Nights of Cabiria, 8½ and Amacord – won Oscars for foreign-language film. During the 1960s Fellini’s films became more daring and surreal – and his prominence and influence grew. The book explores his films from that decade – 1960’s La Dolce Vita, 1963’s 8½ , 1965’s Juliet of the Spirits, 1969’s Fellini Satyricon, as well as his contributions to the anthology films Boccaccio ’70 (1962) and 1968’s Spirits of the Dead.