Synopsis: Marcello Mastroianni plays Guido Anselmi, a director whose new project is collapsing around him, along with his life. One of the greatest films about film ever made, Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 (Otto e mezzo) turns one man's artistic crisis into a grand epic of the cinema. An early working title for 8 1/2 was The Beautiful Confusion, and Fellini's masterpiece is exactly that: a shimmering dream, a circus, and a magic act.

Director: Federico Fellini

Cast: Marcello Mastroianni, Bruno Agostini, Sandra Milo, Anouk Aimee, Barbara Steele, Caterina Boratto, Claudia Cardinale

Theatrical Release Date: 1963

Language: English, French, German, Italian

Subtitles: English

Screen Format: Widescreen

Run Time: 138 minutes (BLU-RAY: 1 disc; DVD: 2 discs)

Special Features:

• High-definition digital transfer of restored film elements (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on Blu-ray edition)
• Introduction by filmmaker Terry Gilliam
• Audio commentary featuring film critic and Fellini friend Gideon Bachmann and NYU film professor Antonio Monda
• High-definition digital transfer of a new restoration of Fellini: A Director's Notebook, a 52-minute film by Federico Fellini
• The Last Sequence, a new 52-minute documentary on Fellini's lost alternate ending for 8 1/2 (available on Blu-ray edition)
• Nino Rota: Between Cinema and Concert, a compelling 48-minute documentary about Fellini's longtime composer
• Interviews with actress Sandra Milo, director Lina Wertmuller, and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro
• Rare photographs from Bachmann's collection
• Gallery of behind-the-scenes and production photos
• U.S. theatrical trailer
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• PLUS: A booklet featuring writings by Fellini and essays by critics Tullio Kezich and Alexander Sesonske

Distributor: The Criterion Collection (DVD/Blu-ray: Spine #140)

See also:

Discography (8 1/2)

Discography (Otto e Mezzo)

Filmography

Sheet Music