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| Fellini News Update #14 |
Researching and documenting the influence of Federico Fellini on popular culture.
April 24, 2005
Greetings from Fort Worth, Texas
Topics:
1) DVD Alert !!!! - Boccaccio 70 available at last. New Intervista DVD.
2) Book News/Reviews - Clive James, Umberto Eco, Peter Bondanella, Roger Ebert, Pauline Kael and more.
3) Music News/Reviews -Strange bedfellows: Fellini, Rota and Bette Midler? - Mr. Lucky reviews Rota classics
4) Seattle Conference News - Hell is about to freeze over
5) Student Essay of the Month - The Dubious Skill of Remembering
6) Fellini Onstage - Into the Acid Fountain. Decadence in Minnesota
7) Odds and Ends - Fellini's Muses - Get fit with Fellini
8) Felliniana Archive News - Website announcement
1) DVD Alert !!!!!:
At long last, Boccaccio 70, the rarely seen 1962 omnibus film featuring episodes by 4 of the most
renowned Italian directors of the 60's is now available on DVD in the U.S. with English subtitles.
Fellini's contribution, The Temptation of Dr. Antonio, is one of his most "Fellini-esque" works,
bringing together such disparate elements as a 50 foot tall Anita Ekberg in all her glory, a troop
of Boy Scouts, a flurry of nuns and a real live Cupid. Those who have watched with a mixture of
curiosity and alarm the moral ambiguities of certain members of the Bush administration will get
a kick out of the title character, played by Peppino de Filippo.
Released by NoShame Films, an exciting new company that plans to focus on neglected Italian
films, Boccaccio 70 is presented in a widescreen digital anamorphic transfer and has tons of "extras".
Read more here:
http://www.noshamefilms.com/index.asp
Intervista, Fellini's mock-doc, co-written by Gianfranco Angelucci, gets a proper DVD treatment
with a new release by Koch-Lorber Films, the same company that brought La Dolce Vita to DVD
last year and hints at other Fellini surprises in the future. Their version has 5.1 Surround Sound
and enhanced in16x9 widescreen. Bonus materials include the trailer, a special documentary by
Vincenzo Mollica, on the set photo gallery, etc. A great improvement over the previously
available DVD. Read all the details here:
www.kochlorberfilms.com
Both films available at DVD Planet:
www.dvdplanet.com
2) Book News and Reviews:
In what I think is a first for a Fellini book, Peter Bondanella's 2002 book, The Films of
Federico Fellini, covering 5 Fellini films is now available as an "E-book". His essay on 8 1/2
is a tour de force. You can purchase and download the entire book at Amazon:
Click Here
or Powells Bookstore:
Powells Bookstore
I recently discovered a wonderful essay on Fellini by the Australian culture critic and
TV personality, Clive James. The essay, Mondo Fellini, written for the New Yorker, 5/21/93,
and now available in a collection titled, As of This Writing, is highly recommended.
You can read a review here:
Click Here
An interesting take on Fellini's, Ginger and Fred, by Italian writer, Umberto Eco, titled,
Phantom of Neo-TV, is available in his collection, Apocalypse Postponed, 1994. He writes of
the three levels of Fellini's imagination and ties that in with his own views of television. This one
slipped by me at the time of publication and is worth looking up.
I recently discovered on film critic Roger Ebert's website, a fascinating selection of capsuled
reviews by him and several other famous reviewers from the 60's and 90's, including Peter
Bogdonavich and the always fun, Pauline Kael. Great fun.
Read about it here:
Read Here
3) Music News and Reviews:
This definitely falls under the heading, "Trivialities", but nonetheless, when Bette Midler
got married to her latest hubby in Las Vegas a few years ago she chose the soundtrack to,
Juliet of the Spirits, for her wedding music. She also claims the music is ideal for cleaning
the house to. Read more than you'll ever want to know here:
Click Here
Another recent discovery is a great site for music reviews: MrLucky.com. Where else can one
read a fresh review of the 1961 soundtrack to La Dolce Vita and 1965's Juliet of the Spirits?
Read about that and much more here:
Click Here
4) Seattle Conference News:
In a sign that hell is about to freeze over, the long awaited filmed documentary of the
2003 Fellini International Academic Conference in Seattle is nearing completion.
Film maker, Eric Burritt, now has a website to advertise and promote the upcoming film titled,
Fellini: Ungrateful Celebration. Read up on what Eric and company have been up to here:
Click Here
5) Student Essay of the Month:
It's always fun reading what students come up with when writing essays on Fellini.
My most recent discovery is titled, The Dubious Skill of Remembering: Fellini's Amarcord
and Art Cinema. Unfortunately, I have not been able to identify the author who remains
unknown, but you can read the thought-provoking essay here:
Click Here
6) Fellini Onstage:
In 2001, an organization that calls itself, The Ministry of Cultural Warfare, based in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, produced a play for the Minnesota Fringe Festival entitled, Into
the Acid Fountain: The Federico Fellini Variety Hour. Written by Matthew Foster, the play
is both a parody of and homage to La Dolce Vita, with Marcello as a gay art school drop
out and featuring some very weird cabaret acts. Need I write more? Read all about this
hilarious sacrilege at:
Click Here
7) Odds and Ends:
Italian gate manufacturer, FAAC has been producing promotional "art calendars"
since 1999. For their 40th anniversary in 2005 and in association with Federico Fellini
Fondazione in Italy, they have issued, "Fellini's Muses", a gorgeous calendar of Fellini erotica.
See images and read all about it here:
Click Here
Vita Digital Productions has produced a exercise fitness, treadmill video they call,
La Dolce Vita, a virtual walk through the Eternal City in moving pictures. Along the
way you pass Fellini haunts such as Harry's Bar along the Via Veneto, Trevi's Fountain
and all the usual sights. "For the person who as everything". Check it out here:
Click Here
8) Felliniana Archive News:
The Don Young Felliniana Archive website will up and running soon. The complete archive,
organized by film title, will eventually be available online. Articles and essays from rare
magazine, newspapers, books and other material spanning 50 years will be available for
sale in digital or hard copy format. I will announce the opening of the website via email ASAP.
I welcome contributions and feedback to this newsletter. Please advise if you wish to be
removed from the mailing list.
Don Young
Don Young Felliniana Archive
P.O. Box 470041
Fort Worth, TX 76147
USA
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