Okay for Kids?

How old is he? He might not be able to really appreciate the film's themes and characters at his age.

As far as content goes, it depends on how you feel about sexuality. There's nothing very raunchy in the film, but Guido's sexual interests are a part of the film's subject matter: his various relationships with many women over the years, and his at-times callous treatment of them.

If anything, I'm more concerned about whether he'll be able to comprehend it or not. It's why I ask his age.

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¡No hay la banda!

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The three great scenes of a sexual nature are the party and the Trevi fountain scene and the harem whip scene. Also, as I remember, there is the prostitute Appian Way sequence. And a Catholic fashion show.
It's been a while, I apologize. Hey, doesn't sound like a "kid" could really appreciate such a meld of satrical social commentary from an Italian director of the most psychological type. Perhaps not. Depends.

I think the party scene is a most amazing example of sexual tension and ambiguity, one of my all-time favorite scenes. There are people of all types at the party, homosexuals of both sexes, and the way that Marcello gets drunk and disorderly is a classic. Rota's music is wonderful. But, certainly not for kids. However, I did see parties almost as scandalous as a kid. So I was ready when I saw the film first-run as a Sophomore in High School in the USA.

Of course, if your kid has seen the Lampoon films like European Vacation, Risky Business, or Valley Girl, Porkys and so on, they've seen tits and excitement. Heck, Saturday Night Fever (1977) had a date-rape sequence. This film is foreign, and adult, but no more obviously sexual than those. It's just adult in the old sense of the word, that is, kids won't understand.

Kids have seen stuff on cable today that sexually eclipses films from the sixties, except perhaps the Emannuel soft-core series and so on. In those days, films were in a theatre, and had a ticket-seller at the door. They were not broadcast into the home.

Fellini's later films Juliet of the Spirts, Casanova and especially Satiricon and City of Women are more sexual than 81/2, but are never porn. And there are segments in almost any of his later works that are visual cheesecake, since that was a big part of the Fellini genre. He was a lifelong cartoonist, after all, and he loved women.

However, the idea that a kid won't get the obvious uncertainties and ridiculous capabilities of adults is just adult-chauvanism, and a smart, hipster kid of a puberty-onslaught age ought to get some great film viewing.
Personally, I'd start with La Strada and Nights of Cabiria, since both are powerful, major motion pictures, and the later won an Academy Award for best Foreign Film, a fact often overlooked.

Question was 'is it okay for kids?', answer is Yes.

I first saw this film when I was 8, again when I was 11... now I'm 40 and haven't seen it again since then and definitely its one of my all time favourites. I couldnt forget all the powerful images and scenes in the film... same goes for Federico Fellini, greatest film director of all time IMO.

Are far as content is concerned there is nothing explicitly objectionable for a younger person. Honestly the sexuality depicted is so subtle that today's youth might not even notice it for what it is. But you might want to start them off with an earlier Fellini film like "La Strada" or DiSica's "Bicycle Thief," if they are interested in foreign cinema. I say this simply because this film is long, complex and its themes are adult. That said, it may be an inspiration and revelation to a young person. When I first saw "2001" or "Manhattan," while a lot of it passed over my head, I was so entranced by both that I was inspired to "get them." I wanted to get every single reference Woody Allen made, and I read a lot to understand both films and watched them countless times. I first watched "8 1/2" at about 19, after exploring some Kurosawa and others, and I LOVED IT! I've revisited this films many times over the years, and draw something new from it on every viewing.

What don't you want him or her to see?

Two cheers for reductionism!!

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