Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets (1973) and George Lucas’ American Graffiti (1979) are some of the notable films that have drawn inspiration from the film. One of his most imitated works, I Vitelloni has inspired a generation of filmmakers who regard the Italian Master as one of the best. Drawing on memories from his youth, Fellini brilliantly interlaces humor with drama/melodrama to create endearing characters and moments that stay with the viewer even after the movie.
A recipient of the Silver Lion (Best Director) Award at the Venice Film Festival, Fellini crafts a semi-autobiographical portrait of five young men drifting through life, dreaming of adventure and escape from their small coastal town. This early work in the director’s filmography was his first critical and commercial success. Three of his masterpieces, I Vitelloni, La Dolce Vita, and Juliet of the Spirits, are now streaming on MUBI: Perhaps, this is why even the masses could easily connect with his films enabling him to taste commercial and critical success in equal measure.
The characters in his films are mostly ordinary people consumed by worldly longings and generic desires drawn in flesh and blood. One of the reasons he is revered so much is because he presents the different facets of human nature and its varying shades through a completely objective and non-judgmental lens. While many argue that his films lack the depth and philosophical quality seen in the works of other European auteurs like Bergman or Tarkovsky, there seems to be a consensus among most cinephiles that no one captures the pulse, the beat, and the throb of life, quite like the Italian master.įellini’s films are a celebration of life and the vitality of the human spirit. This year marks the birth centenary of one of the greats of World Cinema, Federico Fellini.