I, Fellini

This book came out of conversations, conducted over the course of fourteen years, between Federico Fellini, the great master director of such landmark films as 8½2, La Dolce Vita, and La Strada, and author Charlotte Chandler.

Like his films, Fellini’s memoir is full of the love of life and of movies; reflections on sex, reality, and death; the joy of directing, and the dreams, memories, fantasies, and nightmares behind the art. There is generous commentary on actors Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Sophia Loren, and Anna Magnani, and on directors such as Roberto Rossellini, Ingmar Bergman, and Michelangelo Antonioni. Most often, Fellini speaks of the enchanting Guilietta Masina, the leading lady of many of his films and of his life.

Charlotte Chandler is the author of the international bestseller Hello, / Must Be Going, about Groucho Marx, with whom Fellini was fascinated. Chandler’s section on Fellini in her book The Ultimate Seduction is, said Fellini, ‘how I see myself’.