Federico Fellini: influences, peers and legacy

Every connection with its receipt

Federico Fellini began as a gag writer and neorealist screenwriter before turning his childhood in Rimini, his Catholic guilt, his circus obsessions and his Jungian dream diaries into a baroque cinema of memory. This mix traces the lines running back to Rossellini's rubble-strewn Rome and the variety stage, and forward to Fosse, Allen and Sorrentino.

The Kynda mix for Federico Fellini

• Key Influence · Rome, Open City by Roberto Rossellini (1945). Fellini co-wrote this founding text of neorealism with Sergio Amidei and helped Rossellini shape Aldo Fabrizi's priest, then worked on Paisan and The Miracle. Rossellini was his practical film school: shooting in the streets of occupied Rome, improvising with non-actors, following real faces. Fellini would later abandon neorealist doctrine, but its documentary attention to the crowd survives in every procession he staged.},{"x":1
• Influencia Obscura · Freaks by Tod Browning (1932). Fellini's casting method was famously physiognomic: he papered his office with photographs of extraordinary faces and bodies, filling La Dolce Vita, Satyricon and Casanova with giants, dwarves and grotesques. Browning's sideshow film, banned for decades and rediscovered by European cinephiles in the 1960s, is the ancestor of that tenderness toward the anomalous body, treating the freak show as a community rather than a spectacle.
• Local Roots · Bicycle Thieves by Vittorio De Sica (1948). The other pole of the Roman postwar scene Fellini emerged from, written by Cesare Zavattini and shot in the same city where Fellini was scraping by drawing caricatures and writing radio sketches. Fellini and De Sica shared actors, producers and the Cinecittà ecosystem; De Sica even acted for Fellini's circle. Seeing this clarifies exactly what Fellini kept from neorealism and what he theatricalized away.
• Beyond the Medium · Satyricon by Petronius (c. 60 AD). Fellini adapted this fragmentary Latin novel as Fellini Satyricon in 1969, treating its gaps as a licence for dream logic and calling the ancient world a science-fiction planet. Petronius's episodic banquets, sexual free-for-alls and grotesque parvenus like Trimalchio gave Fellini a pre-Christian mirror for the decadence he had filmed in modern Rome, and a structure without moral arc that suited his late, mosaic style.
• Peer · La Notte by Michelangelo Antonioni (1961). Antonioni and Fellini were the twin poles of Italian art cinema in the early 1960s, and their careers were entangled early: Fellini worked on the story for Antonioni's debut-era project The White Sheik material and Antonioni's first feature came out of the same Roman screenwriting milieu. La Notte's bored, wandering intellectuals answer La Dolce Vita's parties with silence instead of spectacle.
• From the Canon · 8½ by Federico Fellini (1963). Made after the scandal and triumph of La Dolce Vita, when Fellini genuinely could not decide what to shoot next, it turns creative paralysis into form: Guido Anselmi, played by Marcello Mastroianni as a Fellini surrogate, drifts between spa, memory, harem fantasy and a rocket-launch set. Nino Rota's score, Piero Gherardi's design and Gianni Di Venanzo's photography made it the template for the film about filmmaking.
• Key Collaborator · The Godfather by Nino Rota (1972). Rota scored nearly every Fellini film from The White Sheik in 1952 until his death in 1979, inventing the waltz-and-brass-band idiom of La Strada, 8½ and Amarcord; Fellini often played his themes on set. Coppola hired him for The Godfather, where the same gift for nostalgic, slightly circus-tinged melody produced one of cinema's most recognizable scores. Essential to hearing what Rota gave Fellini.
• Legacy · All That Jazz by Bob Fosse (1979). Fosse's autobiographical musical is openly modelled on 8½: a philandering director-choreographer, played by Roy Scheider as a Fosse stand-in, stages his own creative and physical breakdown while women from his life appear as figures of judgment. The hospital fantasias and the final production number restage Fellini's circus finale as Broadway, making it the most explicit American descendant of 8½.

What influenced Federico Fellini

• Roberto Rossellini. Fellini credits Rossellini as a formative influence and mentor figure. (also via Rome, Open City, Open City, Paisan) “Roberto Rossellini walked into my life at a moment when I needed to make a choice, when I needed someone to show me the path to follow.” (Wikipedia)
• City Lights by Charlie Chaplin (1931). City Lights (Charlie Chaplin) — titan for Federico Fellini “Fellini has admitted that this scene owes a debt to Chaplin's City Lights (1931).” (Wikipedia)
• Carl Jung. Jung's ideas are described as a major influence on Fellini's mature style. (also via Memories, Dreams, Reflections) “A major discovery for Fellini after his Italian neorealism period (1950–1959) was the work of Carl Jung .” (Wikipedia)
• Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin listed among Fellini's key influences. (also via City Lights)
• Rome, Open City by Roberto Rossellini (1945). Rome, Open City (Roberto Rossellini) — titan for Federico Fellini “He became involved with Italian Neorealism when Roberto Rossellini, at work on Stories of Yesteryear (later Rome, Open City), met Fellini in his shop, and proposed he contribute gags and dialogue for the script.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Amerika by Franz Kafka (1927). Amerika (Franz Kafka) — culture for Federico Fellini “For Intervista, produced by Ibrahim Moussa and RAI Television, Fellini intercut memories of the first time he visited Cinecittà in 1939 with present-day footage of himself at work on a screen adaptation of Franz Kafka's Amerika.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Memories, Dreams, Reflections by Carl Jung (1962). Memories, Dreams, Reflections (Carl Jung) — culture for Federico Fellini “=== Art films and dreams (1961–1969) === A major discovery for Fellini after his Italian neorealism period (1950–1959) was the work of Carl Jung.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Happy Hooligan by Frederick Burr Opper. Wikipedia states Opper's comic character visually inspired the Gelsomina character in La Strada. “Opper's Happy Hooligan would provide the visual inspiration for Gelsomina in Fellini's 1954 film La Strada” (Wikipedia)
• Little Nemo by Winsor McCay. McCay's comic strip is stated to have directly influenced City of Women. “McCay's Little Nemo would directly influence his 1980 film City of Women” (Wikipedia)
• Luis Buñuel. Fellini names Buñuel as the filmmaker he feels closest to. “Buñuel is the auteur I feel closest to in terms of an idea of cinema or the tendency to make particular kinds of films.” (Wikipedia)
• Mean Streets by Martin Scorsese (1973). I Vitelloni is stated to have influenced Scorsese's Mean Streets. (via I Vitelloni) “I Vitelloni inspired European directors Juan Antonio Bardem , Marco Ferreri , and Lina Wertmüller and influenced Martin Scorsese 's Mean Streets (1973),” (Wikipedia)
• American Graffiti by George Lucas (1973). I Vitelloni is stated to have influenced American Graffiti. (via I Vitelloni) “George Lucas 's American Graffiti (1974), Joel Schumacher 's St. Elmo's Fire (1985), and Barry Levinson 's Diner (1982), among many others.” (Wikipedia)
• St. Elmo's Fire by Joel Schumacher. I Vitelloni is stated to have influenced St. Elmo's Fire. (via I Vitelloni) “George Lucas 's American Graffiti (1974), Joel Schumacher 's St. Elmo's Fire (1985), and Barry Levinson 's Diner (1982), among many others.” (Wikipedia)
• Diner by Barry Levinson (1982). I Vitelloni is stated to have influenced Diner. (via I Vitelloni) “George Lucas 's American Graffiti (1974), Joel Schumacher 's St. Elmo's Fire (1985), and Barry Levinson 's Diner (1982), among many others.” (Wikipedia)
• Henry IV by William Shakespeare. Critic compares the eloquence of the film's monologue to Shakespeare's Henry IV handing his kingdom to Prince Hal. (via 8½) “There has been no death-bed speech so eloquent since Henry IV passed along his kingdom to Prince Hal with Shakespeare as his ghost writer.” (Evening Star (Washington, D.C.))
• Freaks by Tod Browning (1932). Freaks (Tod Browning) — ghost for Federico Fellini (themoviedb.org)
• Vampyr by Carl Theodor Dreyer (1932). Vampyr (Carl Theodor Dreyer) — ghost for Federico Fellini (themoviedb.org)
• A Trip to the Moon by Georges Méliès (1902). A Trip to the Moon (Georges Méliès) — ghost for Federico Fellini (themoviedb.org)
• Satyricon by Petronius. Satyricon (Petronius) — culture for Federico Fellini (openlibrary.org)
• Sergei Eisenstein. Eisenstein listed among Fellini's key influences.
• Buster Keaton. Keaton listed among Fellini's key influences.
• Laurel and Hardy. Laurel and Hardy listed among Fellini's key influences.
• Marx Brothers. Marx Brothers listed among Fellini's key influences.

Peers and kindred spirits

• The Godfather (1972). The Godfather (Nino Rota) — collaborator for Federico Fellini (also via 8½) “The most precious collaborator I have ever had, I say it straightaway and don't even have to hesitate, was Nino Rota” (Wikipedia (citing Cadrage interview))
• Michelangelo Antonioni. La dolce vita (Federico Fellini) — peer for Michelangelo Antonioni (via La Dolce Vita, Amarcord, La Notte) “Starring Alberto Sordi in the title role, the film is a revised version of a treatment first written by Michelangelo Antonioni in 1949 and based on the fotoromanzi, the photographed cartoon strip romances popular in Italy at the time.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Pina Bausch (1940). Bausch appeared as an actress in Fellini's film, a direct collaboration/cross-medium connection. (via And the Ship Sails On, E la nave va) “In 1983, she played the role of La Principessa Lherimia in Federico Fellini 's film And the Ship Sails On .” (Wikipedia)
• Ingmar Bergman (1918). 8½ (Federico Fellini) — peer for Ingmar Bergman (via 8½, Wild Strawberries) “His parody of the films of Federico Fellini, All These Women (För att inte tala om alla dessa kvinnor) was released in 1964.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Divorce Italian Style by Pietro Germi (1961). Divorce Italian Style (Pietro Germi) — collaborator for Federico Fellini “He was the first actor to receive an Academy Award nomination for a non-English language performance, and was nominated for Best Actor three times – Divorce Italian Style (1961), A Special Day (1977), and Dark Eyes (1987).” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Andrei Tarkovsky. Amarcord (Federico Fellini) — collaborator for Andrei Tarkovsky (via Amarcord) “He worked with such filmmakers as Michelangelo Antonioni, in L'Avventura, La Notte, L'Eclisse, Red Desert, Blowup, Zabriskie Point and Identification of a Woman; Federico Fellini, in Amarcord; Theo Angelopoulos, in Landscape in the Mist,…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Nino Rota (1911). Ebert notes that Nino Rota was known as the composer of many Fellini films before scoring The Godfather. “Coppola went to Italy to find Nino Rota , composer of many Fellini films, to score the picture.” (Wikipedia)
• We All Loved Each Other So Much by Ettore Scola (1974). We All Loved Each Other So Much (Ettore Scola) — geography for Federico Fellini “Among his collaborators on the magazine's editorial board were the future director Ettore Scola, Marxist theorist and scriptwriter Cesare Zavattini, and Bernardino Zapponi, a future Fellini screenwriter.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• La Notte by Michelangelo Antonioni (1961). La Notte (Michelangelo Antonioni) — peer for Federico Fellini “Starring Alberto Sordi in the title role, the film is a revised version of a treatment first written by Michelangelo Antonioni in 1949 and based on the fotoromanzi, the photographed cartoon strip romances popular in Italy at the time.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Wild Strawberries by Ingmar Bergman (1957). Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman) — peer for Federico Fellini “His parody of the films of Federico Fellini, All These Women (För att inte tala om alla dessa kvinnor) was released in 1964.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Accattone by Pier Paolo Pasolini (1961). Accattone (Pier Paolo Pasolini) — collaborator for Federico Fellini “Pier Paolo Pasolini was hired to translate Flaiano and Pinelli's dialogue into Roman dialect and to supervise researches in the vice-afflicted suburbs of Rome.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Open City by Roberto Rossellini. Fellini is credited as a scriptwriter on Rossellini's Open City. “after breaking into the l movie world by scripting such Rossellini films as "Open City."” (Evening Star (Washington, D.C.))
• Paisan by Roberto Rossellini. Fellini is credited as a scriptwriter on Rossellini's Paisan. “"Paisan" and "The Miracle."” (Evening Star (Washington, D.C.))
• The Miracle by Roberto Rossellini. Fellini is credited as a scriptwriter on Rossellini's The Miracle. “"Paisan" and "The Miracle."” (Evening Star (Washington, D.C.))
• Bicycle Thieves by Vittorio De Sica (1948). Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica) — geography for Federico Fellini (themoviedb.org)
• Alberta Ferretti (1950). Amarcord (Federico Fellini) — geography for Alberta Ferretti (via Amarcord) (themoviedb.org)
• Anouk Aimee. Notes Anouk Aimee's prior role in Fellini's La Dolce Vita as context for her role in 8½. (via La Dolce Vita)

Who Federico Fellini influenced

• All That Jazz by Bob Fosse (1979). All That Jazz (Bob Fosse) — legacy for Federico Fellini (also via 8½) “Mr. Fosse's answer to 8½ in which Federico Fellini wittily examined his own life at a point when he feared his creativity was at an end” (Wikipedia)
• David Chase (1945). Chase cites Fellini as influence on the show's visual style. (also via 8½, The Sopranos) “Italian director Federico Fellini as an important influence on the show's cinematic style” (Wikipedia)
• Martin Scorsese. Scorsese is listed among filmmakers who have cited Fellini's influence. (also via 8½, Mean Streets) “He has also cited the works of Satyajit Ray , [ 19 ] Ingmar Bergman , [ 22 ] [ 23 ] Andrzej Wajda , [ 24 ] Michelangelo Antonioni , [ 25 ] Federico Fellini , [ 26 ] Ishirō Honda and Eiji Tsuburaya [ 27 ] as major influences on his career.” (Wikipedia)
• Woody Allen. Woody Allen listed among filmmakers who cited Fellini's influence. (also via Juliet of the Spirits, Stardust Memories) “Contemporary filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese , Woody Allen , Pedro Almodóvar , Roy Andersson , Darren Aronofsky , Greta Gerwig , Ari Aster , Tim Burton ,” (Wikipedia)
• Bob Fosse (1927). 81/2 (Federico Fellini) — culture for Bob Fosse (via 81/2, All That Jazz) “Fosse's answer to 8½ in which Federico Fellini wittily examined his own life at a point when he feared his creativity was at an end".” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Stardust Memories by Woody Allen (1980). Stardust Memories (Woody Allen) — legacy for Federico Fellini (also via 8½) “8 + 1 ⁄ 2 inspired, among others, Mickey One ( Arthur Penn , 1965), Alex in Wonderland ( Paul Mazursky , 1970), Beware of a Holy Whore ( Rainer Werner Fassbinder , 1971), Day for Night ( François Truffaut , 1973), All That Jazz ( Bob Fos…” (Wikipedia)
• The Sopranos by David Chase (1999). Chase cited Italian film director Federico Fellini as an influence on the show's cinematic style. (also via 8½) “He has mentioned American playwrights Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams as influences on the show's writing, and Italian director Federico Fellini as an important influence on the show's cinematic style.” (Wikipedia)
• George Lucas (1944). George Lucas listed among filmmakers who cited Fellini's influence. (also via 8½, American Graffiti) “Lucas and childhood friend John Plummer also saw classic European films of the time, including Jean-Luc Godard 's Breathless , François Truffaut 's Jules et Jim and Federico Fellini 's 8½ .” (Wikipedia)
• Stanley Kubrick (1928). Kubrick ranked I Vitelloni as his number one favorite film. (via I Vitelloni) “he listed Federico Fellini 's I Vitelloni as first in his Top 10 list.” (Wikipedia)
• The Great Beauty by Paolo Sorrentino (2013). The Great Beauty (Paolo Sorrentino) — legacy for Federico Fellini “Pauline Kael of The New Yorker criticized Fellini, believing that part of his reputation was "narcissistic" and based on what celebrities "have always thought a movie director to be," calling it a movie director's "megalomania." Contempo…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• All These Women. Bergman's film All These Women is described as a parody of Federico Fellini's films. “His parody of the films of Federico Fellini , All These Women ( För att inte tala om alla dessa kvinnor ) was released in 1964.” (Wikipedia)
• Pedro Almodóvar (1949). Almodóvar listed among filmmakers who cited Fellini's influence. “Contemporary filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese , Woody Allen , Pedro Almodóvar , Roy Andersson , Darren Aronofsky , Greta Gerwig , Ari Aster , Tim Burton ,” (Wikipedia)
• Wojciech Has. A critic compared Wojciech Has's visual style to Fellini's. “Polish director Wojciech Has , whose two best-received films, The Saragossa Manuscript (1965) and The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973), are examples of modernist fantasies, has been compared to Fellini for the sheer "luxuriance of his images".” (Wikipedia)
• Roman Polanski (1933). Polanski named Fellini as one of his three favorite filmmakers. “Roman Polanski considered Fellini to be among the three film-makers he favored most, along with Akira Kurosawa and Orson Welles .” (Wikipedia)
• Bob Dylan. Dylan's song Motorpsycho Nitemare references Fellini's work. “Fellini's work is referenced on the albums Fellini Days (2001) by Fish , Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964) by Bob Dylan with " Motorpsycho Nitemare "” (Wikipedia)
• Fish (1958). Fish's album Fellini Days references Fellini's work. “Fellini's work is referenced on the albums Fellini Days (2001) by Fish , Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964) by Bob Dylan with " Motorpsycho Nitemare "” (Wikipedia)
• Lana Del Rey. Lana Del Rey has named Fellini as an influence on her work. “American singer Lana Del Rey has cited Fellini as an influence.” (Wikipedia)
• Wes Anderson (1969). Anderson's short film pays direct homage to Fellini. “Wes Anderson 's short film Castello Cavalcanti (2013) is in many places a direct homage to Fellini.” (Wikipedia)
• Akira Kurosawa (1910). Kurosawa named La Strada as one of his favorite films. (via La Strada) “International film directors who have named La Strada as one of their favorite films include Stanley Kwan , Anton Corbijn , Gillies MacKinnon , Andreas Dresen , Jiří Menzel , Adoor Gopalakrishnan , Mike Newell , Rajko Grlić , Spike Lee ,…” (Wikipedia)
• Spike Lee (1957). Spike Lee named La Strada as one of his favorite films. (via La Strada) “International film directors who have named La Strada as one of their favorite films include Stanley Kwan , Anton Corbijn , Gillies MacKinnon , Andreas Dresen , Jiří Menzel , Adoor Gopalakrishnan , Mike Newell , Rajko Grlić , Spike Lee ,” (Wikipedia)
• David Cronenberg (1943). Cronenberg credited La Strada with opening his eyes to cinema's possibilities. (via La Strada) “David Cronenberg credits La Strada for opening his eyes to the possibilities of cinema when, as a child, he saw adults leave a showing of the film openly weeping.” (Wikipedia)
• Sweet Charity by Cy Coleman (1966). Sweet Charity is stated to be an adaptation of Nights of Cabiria. (via Nights of Cabiria) “Nights of Cabiria was adapted as the Broadway musical Sweet Charity and the movie Sweet Charity (1969) by Bob Fosse starring Shirley MacLaine .” (Wikipedia)
• Frank Castorf (1951). Castorf adapted Fellini's City of Women for the stage. (via City of Women) “City of Women was adapted for the Berlin stage by Frank Castorf in 1992.” (Wikipedia)
• Mickey One. 8½ is stated to have inspired Mickey One. (via 8½) “8 + 1 ⁄ 2 inspired, among others, Mickey One ( Arthur Penn , 1965), Alex in Wonderland ( Paul Mazursky , 1970), Beware of a Holy Whore ( Rainer Werner Fassbinder , 1971), Day for Night ( François Truffaut , 1973), All That Jazz ( Bob Fos…” (Wikipedia)
• Day for Night. 8½ is stated to have inspired Day for Night. (via 8½) “8 + 1 ⁄ 2 inspired, among others, Mickey One ( Arthur Penn , 1965), Alex in Wonderland ( Paul Mazursky , 1970), Beware of a Holy Whore ( Rainer Werner Fassbinder , 1971), Day for Night ( François Truffaut , 1973), All That Jazz ( Bob Fos…” (Wikipedia)
• Nine. The Broadway musical Nine was inspired by 8½. (via 8½) “and the Broadway musical Nine ( Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit , 1982).” (Wikipedia)
• The B-52's by The B-52's (1976). The B-52's song is named after and references Fellini's Juliet of the Spirits. (via Juliet of the Spirits) “Funplex (2008) by the B-52's with the song "Juliet of the Spirits,"” (Wikipedia)
• Ambient 4: On Land. Eno names Fellini’s film as a touchstone in his On Land liner notes. (via Amarcord) “like Federico Fellini 's 1973 film Amarcord , it too became a touchstone to which I returned frequently.” (Wikipedia)
• Dorothy Fields. Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini) — culture for Dorothy Fields (via Nights of Cabiria) (themoviedb.org)
• Negroni. La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini) — culture for Negroni (via La Dolce Vita) (themoviedb.org)
• Terry Gilliam. Wikipedia lists a broad group of filmmakers, including via footnote Terry Gilliam, as citing Fellini's influence.
• David Lynch (1946). David Lynch listed among filmmakers who cited Fellini's influence.