8½ (1963)

The critic hails the film as an iconic masterpiece and a re-release worth seeing on the big screen. They praise its fluid shifts between reality, dream, memory and fantasy, its sincerity beneath virtuosic set pieces, and its enduring emotional resonance as a map of life’s stresses and creative catharsis.

Parkinson praises the film as a mesmerising, complex study of creative and personal crisis. He singles out its mix of daydreams, memories, nightmares and confrontations for capturing Fellini’s struggle to sustain his reputation.

The critic describes the digitally restored re-release as a glorious portrait of a grand director folding in on himself. It ranks among the greatest movies about movies.

Turan describes 8 1/2 as a timeless classic of personal cinema about self-portraiture and the creative process. He singles out its ability to enthrall through imagination and instinct.

Ebert calls 8 1/2 a great film and the definitive work about director's block. He singles out its autobiographical elements and the famous harem daydream sequence for praise.

The critic views 8½ as a pivotal shift in Fellini’s work from neorealism to oneiric, personal cinema about creative and masculine crisis, praising its self-deprecating comedy, Freudian elements, and focus on the women in the protagonist’s life. The review highlights the film’s embrace of cinema as an expression of the panicked id and its enduring influence.

The critic praises Fellini’s hallucinatory masterpiece as a compelling meditation on films as dreams and memories that exerts an irresistible pull. The opening dream sequence stands out as one of the most incredible things in cinema.

Gill praises the film as marvellous and a comedy about life's absurdities and desirability. He highlights Fellini's inventive cinematic tricks, performances, photography, and witty script.

The review calls 8 1/2 an exciting, stimulating monumental creation that tops La Dolce Vita. It praises the intensely personal storytelling and Fellini's ability to confess innermost thoughts entertainingly.

The critic praises the film as one of Fellini's masterpieces and a powerful personal statement that continues to beguile despite being divisive. It singles out the sprawling portrait of the artist and the creative process in crisis.

The film is a grim fable of modern man and a true art picture likely limited in general appeal but strong in art houses. It features penetrating and witty moments with strong performances, especially from Marcello Mastroianni, and excellent technical credits including editing and music.

Fellini has made a stimulating contemplation of a sweet guy, though it leaves an uncomfortable feeling of letdown at the end. The critic praises the director's tremendous pictorial poetry, intimations of pathos and longing, skill with the silly and grotesque, and splendid performing, along with another delicious Nino Rota score.

The critic describes the film as a surreal self-interrogation in which Mastroianni plays a blocked director fantasising about women and his past. She highlights the lush black-and-white photography and the restoration screening at the BFI.

The short review describes the film as post-modernism 1963-style about a director on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It notes that it is dated but fitfully arresting.

The critic praises this restored rerelease of Fellini's classic as a darkly funny, brilliantly acted masterpiece about life, art and the psyche, centered on the chaotic world of filmmaking. They highlight the film's rare cohesion through striking black-and-white cinematography and Nina Rota's score, and urge viewers to see it on the big screen.

The critic views 8½ as a singular, self-indulgent yet extraordinary act of creative expression that grows more stimulating with each viewing. They single out the memorable black-and-white images by cinematographer Gianni Di Venanzo and the dazzling dream sequences and scenes featuring the women from the protagonist's past.