Ep 3.4 // 8 ½

Explicit content warning

11/01/21 • 78 min

It’s Jeremiah’s 3rd pick: 8 1⁄2, the 1963 film directed by Federico Fellini.

8 1⁄2 was Fellini’s feature film follow-up to 1960s La Dolce Vita – with a segment for an anthology film produced in the interim. La Dolce Vita had been something of an international sensation when it came out, so perhaps the pressure of following that up led him to produce a film about the pressure on a director to make his next movie.

It was released in February 1963 to much acclaim, especially from European critics, drawing comparisons to James Joyce’s Ulysses and Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane along the way. It then opened in the United States in June of that year, where it also earned mostly praise, but for a few critics (Pauline Kael among the detractors). And it ended up winning two Academy Awards, for Best Foreign Film and Best Costume Design (Black and White), while it was also nominated for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Art Direction.

As for our purposes, 8 1⁄2 was first on the Sight & Sound critics survey in 1972, ranked as the 4th greatest film of all time. It Was then at number 5 in 1982, fell off the list in 1992, reentered at #9 in 2002 and ended up at #10 in 2012. Meanwhile, it’s been on the directors survey each time they’ve had one so far, at #2 in 1992, at #3 in 2002, and then at #4 in 2012.

Produced by Stereoactive Media

It’s Jeremiah’s 3rd pick: 8 1⁄2, the 1963 film directed by Federico Fellini.

Produced by Stereoactive Media

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Ep 3.3 // Lawrence of Arabia w/ Matt

It’s Alicia's 3rd pick: ‘Lawrence of Arabia,’ the 1962 film directed by David Lean. The film is adapted from the autobiographical account of T. E. Lawrence, ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom,’ which was first published in 1926 and told the story of his involvement with the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Turks, from 1916-1918. Over the decades, many filmmakers – chief among them legendary silent and early sound era producer/director Alexander Korda – courted Lawrence, his estate, and biographers who owned rights to their own versions of the story. But it was ultimately producer Sam Spiegel who secured the rights, looking to follow up on his successful production of ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ with director David Lean. By most accounts the extremely long shoot – which took place in Jordan, Morocco, and Spain – was hellish, but the resulting Super Panavision 70mm CinemaScope film, which premiered in December of 1962, went on to great success largely with both audiences and critics. In addition to its 7 Oscar wins for Best Picture, Director, Art Direction, Cinematography, Film Editing, Score, and Sound, it was also nominated for Best Actor (Peter O’Toole), Best Supporting Actor (Omar Sharif), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson). Notably, Gregory Peck won Best Actor that year for To Kill A Mockingbird. As for our purposes, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ has actually never appeared in the Top 10 or as a runner up on Sight & Sound magazine’s critics poll of the greatest films of all time, but it did rank at #4 on their poll of directors in 2002. Produced by Stereoactive Media

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Ep 3.5 // The Godfather Part II

It’s Mia’s 3rd pick: The Godfather Part II, the 1974 film directed by Francis Ford Coppola

The Godfather Part II both continues the story begun in the first film and also deepens it by depicting what came before. We watch as Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone continues in the family business, building his empire while trying to hold on to his family, both actual and figurative. This is crosscut with a portrayal of his father Vito’s rise from an unfortunate child in Sicily to a respected man in New York, as deftly played by Robert DeNiro. We watch as the older man builds his empire in order to, as he seems to view it, strengthen his family, just as the younger man causes his family to weaken as he extends his father’s empire.

Mario Puzo, the author of the novel on which the first movie and the overall saga were based, began working on the script for Part II before the first movie was even released. And, at least according to Coppola, the production of this followup was much smoother than that of the first film, as that installment’s success afforded him greater opportunity for control and independence from the studio, Paramount Pictures. It was released in December of 1974 and, though the critical reception was mixed at first -- with the film’s structure drawing the most consternation -- reassessments began sooner than often happens.

In addition to being the big winner at the Academy Awards that year, the film was also the 6th highest grossing film of 1974 in North America. The Godfather Part II was included in AFI’s 100 Years, 100 Movies list in 1998, ranked at #32... and it stayed in the same spot when that list was updated in 2007.

For our purposes, it gets a little messy -- the film ranked #9 on Sight and Sound Magazine’s survey of directors in 1992... But when it was paired with Part 1 for the the survey in 2002, the 2 films collectively came it at #4 on the critics poll and at #2 on the directors poll.

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