Guido Anselmi: Film Analysis

The film 8 ½ centers on a filmmaker, Guido Anselmi, who struggles with the making of a new movie. Throughout the film, we see Guido’s fantasies, dreams, memories, and reality and often the line in between these moments is blurred. It is hard to indisputably tell whether a particular scene is truly happening in the reality of the film. What we do know, though, is that every scene is happening, either consciously or not, for Guido. Even if he does not really live in a house with all of the women in his life, that scene can reveal something about Guido since he is the one having the fantasy.

Many of the non-reality moments in the film refer back to his childhood. Similarly, in the reality scenes in the film, we can see that Guido’s decisions

and values are often determined by his childhood. John Parris Springer ends his article “Fellini’s Mirror” by stating that 8 ½ “answers no questions and…leaves pointedly unresolved its chief thematic puzzles.” He gives the example that at the end of the film, we are still asking the question, “what is the connection between our past and present selves, between childhood experience and adult behaviors and values” (Springer, 5)? I disagree with Springer; I believe that while 8 ½ surely has us confused and guessing at the end, the above is one question we are able to answer.

Guido’s identity as an adult is such because of the memories he has of his childhood. For instance, throughout the film Guido is involved, romantically or otherwise, with many women. As a child, the two main women we see Guido interact with are his mother and Saraghina. Saraghina is the woman in the image on the left and as the author of “A Feminine Mystique – 8 ½” puts it, Saraghina “ushers the younger version of the protagonist Guido into the world of adult sexuality. This proves to have lasting consequences on Guido’s psyche, and informs much of what the man does, thinks, and feels in the rest of the film.” Guido’s mother is very disappointed in him after his interaction with Saraghina, a guilt that stays with him throughout the film. As an adult, even more women surround Guido, but there are still two in particular that stand out: his wife, Luisa, and his mistress, Carla. These women mirror the women from his childhood. Luisa is a motherly figure that Guido has difficult connecting with on a sexual level. He even has a dream of being with his parents again and when he goes to hug and kiss his mother, she turns into Luisa. Carla is the Saraghina figure of his adulthood, the “whore.” In the Feminine Mystique article, the author later says, “[Luisa and Carla] substitute for the always opposed symbols of womanhood that Guido found imprinted on him as a boy: the Mother and the Whore.” There is a strict dichotomy between the two women from his childhood, so he recreates this in his adulthood.

One scene that further depicts the influence of Guido’s childhood on his adulthood is through a dream with his parents.

In this dream, we see that Guido feels as though he has been a disappointment to his parents and he seeks his father’s approval. His father will not answer the questions that Guido has for him. Rather, as depicted in the image on the right, his father complains that the ceilings in the mausoleum are too low and that it is ugly. He wants Guido to fix this. He then asks Guido about Luisa and Guido lies to him and says that things are fine. His father responds, “you two together have been my joy” (8 ½, 22:19). Guido’s parents, as far as the viewer can tell, had a good marriage and Guido feels guilty that he cannot do the same. “Art Film Reflections,” an online blog, analyzes this scene in the film saying, “this dream further reveals Guido’s psychic orientation. It shows that to some extent he remains in childhood. Even though his parents are now dead, he is still unconsciously trying to please them. He is still trying to live to their expectations, and he feels shame that he has not done so.” We see throughout the film that, whether in reality or fantasy, people are constantly asking Guido questions and insulting his work. This is especially present near the end of the film at the press conference. Whether or not this scene occurs in reality, Guido feels more pressure similar to that from his father. At this point, he has had enough and metaphorically, it is

assumed, kills himself.

Throughout the film, we may judge or question Guido’s actions, but once we are given a glimpse of his childhood, we are better able to make sense of things. Unlike Springer, I think it is very clear what 8 ½ is trying to say about the connection between childhood experiences and adult beliefs and values. Childhood experiences shape our identity and despite the passing of ten, twenty, or thirty years, we are still the same person. As we have discussed in class, we have a lot of memories, but we only carry with us a handful. Only some of these memories really form our identity. Fellini shows us very specific childhood scenes in 8 ½ in order to show us those parts of Guido’s childhood that have continued to shape his identity through adulthood.