This is one of those movies where, intellectually, I know it's a great film. Here's a film about a director with a creative block who retreats into his memories and imagination to escape the harried world of movie-making...directed by a director who had a creative block and decided to make a movie about it. It coils back on itself like the screenplay for "Adaptation." However, at an emotional level, my gut reaction on watching this film the first time was one of near-boredom. I thought it was a little pretentious and self-serving, but I loved some of the visuals. Especially the opening dream sequence in the smoke-filled car. And yet I was still not captivated by it. Perhaps this movie was not designed to wholly captivate someone, the way a movie like, say, "E.T." or "Harry Potter" is said to captivate the viewer. Perhaps this movie is like an entertaining research paper, discussing an esoteric subject in layman's terms so anybody can watch. Entertaining? Sort of. I had to watch it a few more times before completely understanding how self-reflexive the movie was, and how revealing it was about Fellini himself. For that it gets a seven. But it's not something to just pop in to pass the time. The movie demands attention, and without it, you're just looking at pretty pictures waiting for the closing credits.
