8½ (1963)

Drama Directed by Federico Fellini
→ Influenced 8 films ← Inspired by 1 films

Guido Anselmi, a film director, finds himself creatively barren at the peak of his career. Urged by his doctors to rest, Anselmi heads for a luxurious resort, but a sorry group gathers—his producer, staff, actors, wife, mistress, and relatives—each one begging him to get on with the show. In retreat from their dependency, he fantasizes about past women and dreams of his childhood.

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Films that influenced 8½

← Inspired By (1)

Films inspired by 8½

→ 8½ influenced these (8)

Sources

Influenced By

  1. Citizen Kane (1941)
    "Truffaut identified Kane's narrative structure — interior life of a creator told through fragments and memory — as a Fellini influence (Films in My Life)." source

Influenced

  1. Stardust Memories (1980)
    "Woody Allen on 8½: 'I am not even half of the Fellini of 8½.' Stardust Memories transposes 8½'s central conceit — a celebrated artist beset by his own fame, retreating into memory and fantasy — to a Long Island film retrospective, with the opening train sequence functioning as a direct visual quotation of Fellini's opening." source
  2. Synecdoche, New York (2008)
    "Synecdoche, New York reproduces 8½'s central conceit — an artist beset by blocked creativity, memory, and the women in his life, with the boundary between life and work dissolving — applied to a theater director instead of a film director. Kaufman has not explicitly cited Fellini, but the critical consensus on the parallel is universal."
  3. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
    "Birdman dramatizes the artist's-malaise theme of 8½ through a fading actor staging a comeback. The continuous-take aesthetic is Iñárritu's formal innovation, but the introspective backbone is Fellini's. Iñárritu subsequently made Bardo (2022) as an explicit 'answer to 8½.'" source
  4. Pain and Glory (2019)
    "Almodóvar has named 8½ as the foundational reference for Pain and Glory's creative-stagnation premise. Salvador's blocked-director-recovering-through-memory structure maps directly onto Guido's; both films resolve their creative congestion via semi-autobiographical recollection." source
  5. Asteroid City (2023)
    "Federico Fellini's introspective film about a director analyzing his own work parallels *Asteroid City*'s meta-commentary and self-analysis." Why Asteroid City Is Wes Anderson’s Most Reflective Movie Liam Gaughan MovieWeb
  6. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
    "The film includes aerial shots of characters' feet, such as in the hot air balloon scene and before the helicopter crash, which are homages to Federico Fellini's "8½."" Movie Connections IMDb
  7. The Graduate (1967)
    "Fellini's interior-life cinematography (subjective camera, dream/reality drift) is a documented Nichols touchstone for Benjamin's alienated drift through his parents' world." source
  8. All That Jazz (1979)
    "Federico Fellini's film about a director grappling with creative block and personal issues parallels the narrative of "All That Jazz." The influence is evident in the film's structure and themes." RogerEbert.com source

8½ (1963), directed by Federico Fellini, was inspired by 1 earlier film — including Citizen Kane — and has been cited as an influence on 8 later works, such as Stardust Memories, Synecdoche, New York, and Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Check out the citations below.