8 1/2 and 9: Fellini set to music!

There it was- in the mailbox.  My reckoning. 
9
This meant that I finally had to sit down and watch Fellini's 8 1/2.  
Why, you ask?
Because the musical 9 is based on Fellini's movie. 
Taking the easy way out, I watched 9 first.  Of course.
I have now watched 8 1/2.  
Wow.
Black and white, subtitles (well, I learned French, not Italian).  Quite the art house vibe about it.  When you see it, you'll understand.  Gorgeous, beautiful images with lots and lots of the main character working out his problem. 

The Problem:  He hasn't written the next film.  This did not need a spoiler alert.
It does go much deeper than that.  It is said (on wikipedia) that the film is autobiographical and about the women Fellini has loved and lost.  It also chronicles a director's "mental block".  Of course, this is a bit silly, since the director directs, the producer produces and the writer writes.  The director does not need to write.  Of course, the writer has an interesting, narrative role.  Marcello Mastroianni is Guido the director, Anouk Aimee is his wife.  Talk about gorgeous.  Sigh.

Now to 9.  What a spectacular looking film.  Gorgeous in a completely different way.  Color and Women Everywhere.  This is a much more "light" version of Fellini's film.  In this version, the director has much more control (or it appears that way, a la Christopher Nolan).  The main character, the director Guido, is still suffering from writer's block.  In this film, women are assigned a more defined role:  Mother, Wife, Mistress, Muse, Producer, Whore.  And the actresses chosen to play them:  Sophia Loren, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Stacy Ferguson.  Yeah, that's Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas.  Did a great job in a small role, but memorable.  Which is saying something considering the company she is keeping.  This one is a musical so all the various players have to sing and dance.  I have to say that I never thought of Dame Judi as a singer but she manages.  (She's better as "M" in the Bond movies, though.)  Who realized Kate Hudson could sing and dance that well?  And Marion Cotillard is a delight, as always, wonderful in everything she does.  I am not slighting anyone else, I just want to finish.

Oh, and Daniel Day-Lewis plays Guido.  Did I forget to mention that?  Excellent as always.

If you have the time, see Fellini's movie first.  Then see 9. 
I liked them both immensely for what the filmmakers wanted to offer.