Ennio Flaiano

In a post-war Rome of 1946, a cat burglar inadvertently saves the life of a would-be suicide man who has returned from the war to find that he has been betrayed by his fiancée. From that moment the thief takes the ex-soldier under his wing. They leave the house together for a night full of misadventures. In the streets of Rome they meet a struggling typist who can’t pay her rent and opts for streetwalking; and a wandering amnesiac who lost his memory and keeps asking everyone “Do you recognize me?”.

A look at Fellini's creative process. In extensive interviews, Fellini talks a bit about his background and then discusses how he works and how he creates. Several actors, a producer, a writer, and a production manager talk about working with Fellini. Archive footage of Fellini and others on the set plus clips from his films provide commentary and illustration for the points interviewees make. Fellini is fully in charge; actors call themselves puppets. He dismisses improvisation and calls for "availability." His sets and his films create images that look like reality but are not; we see the differences and the results.

In Shakespeare's classic play, the Montagues and Capulets, two families of Renaissance Italy, have hated each other for years, but the son of one family and the daughter of the other fall desperately in love and secretly marry.

During Fascism and after WWII, a school porter sacrifices himself so his son, who is slightly ashamed of a lowly background, can become a respected professor.The film also takes a few jabs at Italy's rapid governmental reshuffles.

A story of Flaiano's human and professional journey, celebrating the anticipatory gaze of an intellectual rare for ideological independence, talent and eclecticism.

A story of Flaiano's human and professional journey, celebrating the anticipatory gaze of an intellectual rare for ideological independence, talent and eclecticism.

A look at Fellini's creative process. In extensive interviews, Fellini talks a bit about his background and then discusses how he works and how he creates. Several actors, a producer, a writer, and a production manager talk about working with Fellini. Archive footage of Fellini and others on the set plus clips from his films provide commentary and illustration for the points interviewees make. Fellini is fully in charge; actors call themselves puppets. He dismisses improvisation and calls for "availability." His sets and his films create images that look like reality but are not; we see the differences and the results.

In Shakespeare's classic play, the Montagues and Capulets, two families of Renaissance Italy, have hated each other for years, but the son of one family and the daughter of the other fall desperately in love and secretly marry.

In a post-war Rome of 1946, a cat burglar inadvertently saves the life of a would-be suicide man who has returned from the war to find that he has been betrayed by his fiancée. From that moment the thief takes the ex-soldier under his wing. They leave the house together for a night full of misadventures. In the streets of Rome they meet a struggling typist who can’t pay her rent and opts for streetwalking; and a wandering amnesiac who lost his memory and keeps asking everyone “Do you recognize me?”.

During Fascism and after WWII, a school porter sacrifices himself so his son, who is slightly ashamed of a lowly background, can become a respected professor.The film also takes a few jabs at Italy's rapid governmental reshuffles.