Feberico Fellini’s Interview is an enchanting work, a logical extension of all the films that have gone before it and an unequivocal cinematic delight. Apparently conceived as a tribute to the Cinecitta Studios in Rome, which has been Fellini’s base throughout his career, the film is a magical mixture of recollection, parody, memoir, satire, self-examination and joyous fantasy. With Fellini himself as the master of ceremonies, the film is an uproarious celebration of the studio community: actors, actresses, bit players, makeup artists, scene painters, publicity agents, technicians, hangers-on and gate-crashers. Fellini cherishes them all. They are his life’s permanent entourage. An assistant director speaks an impassioned monologue about the heroism of those who stay assistant directors throughout their careers, instead of seeking fame as directors in their own right. He’s clearly stating Fellini’s thoughts when he says it’s like remaining an adolescent forever.
Fellini has great fun choosing the ways in which he disguises the ravages of time and amends the laws of the natural world. In Interview, as in Amarcord, 8 1/2 and all the others, he brings brief order to chaos. Within Cinecitta he can do anything. Intervista is a divertissement, but no ordinary one. In its own seemingly off-hand manner, it’s a grandly cosmic joke.
Vincent Canby, New York Times.
Presented in cooperation with the Italian Cultural Institute.
