Claudia Cardinale

That was literally her role in the film though. The director spends the first 2/3 of the movie fantasizing about this actress based solely on her head shots, and then when he meets her, she fails to live up to it.

This is a microcosm of the film as a whole, where Guido's reality constantly fails to live up to the fantasy inside his head.

I'm not sure what you want out of films exactly, looking beyond the surface. How a film looks and how it's composed visually is kinda the whole point. And while there are plenty of films that are enjoyable primarily for how they look, I'm not sure you could make the case with this one. It's one of the most thorough examination of the artistic process, along with the best portrait of a serial procrastinator I've seen.

"..a person is valued by her looks only, that's when you know the person judging her is intellectually incapable..."

I don't think that is it at all. You should re-watch the film. Claudia's character is the embodiment of an older males longing for the younger and purer woman. It's not about lusting for a young firm body and pretty face. It's about the acceptance that the male is is mortal and aging and about regrets and second thoughts about what he is has done with his life. The life he lived, the life he created, the wife he chose to marry e.t.c.

The Claudia character is the visual representation of the ultimate dream of becoming young and becoming pure again and starting all over again in life. About being able to return back in time and become that 20 (or 30) year old again who is beginning his life. Starting a new life with a new woman and embarking on the journey of starting a family and a new life with her.

It's a lot deeper than Claudia's firm ass and boobies. ;-)



Can this really be the end..to be stuck inside of mobile
with the Memphis blues again.

A couple thoughts, liljebla....

1) The way to fight sexism isn't to be sexist right back. This is the problem with many feminist arguments -- they revolve not around "let's be equal", but "women are better". And that is sexism. By saying everyone that likes this very highly regarded movie is just judging women by their looks is a stupid and ignorant thing to say, regardless of your sex, creed, beliefs, etc.

2) People can like a movie without agreeing with what the characters do. When Fellini shows Guido living out a fantasy of all the women loving him in a bordello, he's not necessarily saying that's what HE fantasizes in, he's saying that's what the CHARACTER fantasizes in. And fantasies always exist, in all of us. Older men will fantasize about younger women. Older women might also fantasize about younger men. Everyone goes through a mid-life crisis and we all go about it differently -- 8 1/2 is just one way of looking at it, through the eyes of one man (who's morals are clearly not great to begin with, considering his affairs).

To quote Roger Ebert -- a film isn't what it is about, but how it is about it. 8 1/2 is about a director with a creative block that fantasizes a lot, regrets where his life is, and lusts after other women besides his wife. And it's a very well done movie about that subject. Just because someone likes Psycho doesn't mean they want to dress up as their mom and stab a girl in the shower, right...?

3) I had a feeling after reading your posts here that if I clicked on your profile and saw your other posts, almost all of them would be about how some other movie is sexist or misogynist, and I was correct. You're bringing your own personal vendettas to not only some films that might not call for it, but an AUDIENCE that doesn't call for it.

One of your other posts mentioned the Blechedel test, and (despite the fact that Blechedel herself doesn't like the test very much and considers it flawed), that's a good point to bring up. It's ridiculous how many movies fail that test, and it's ridiculous to pretend that sexism doesn't exist in the film industry. But by saying to that other poster "I bet you don't even know what the Bechedel test is"....I mean, being a condescending *beep* isn't going to help your message or opinion. It'll just make everyone ignore you.

Why lash out at fans for saying Claudia Cardinale is gorgeous? She is. Everyone knows that. And that has next to nothing to do with how people perceieve or love the film, nor does it somehow prove themselves to be a lesser intellectual than yourself. If I went on the Cool Hand Luke message board and saw a bunch of women talk about how handsome Paul Newman is, would I find that sexist, or an indication of why I personally don't like that film and therefore why everyone else is morally wrong about it? No. I'd reply with a "Damn right he's handsome, look at those eyes!!!!"

You don't understand biology, do you?