Juliet of the Spirits (VHS)

You will either love OR hate this Fellini film; there is no middle ground, no gray area here. In this author's opinion, this is Fellini's TRUE masterpiece and also, incidentally, his first all color film. Not surprisingly, this thought-provoking, riveting, funny/sad, surreal tour d force by cinema's true master brings La Strada star and Fellini's real life wife, the great Giulietta Masina to the big screen in a rare (she was not in too many films in her career), poignant, dynamic, important, pre-feminism role as the scorned wife of a succesful but cheating husband. Through the intersplicing of harsh reality and haunting images, including eroticism, religious iconography, psychic episodes, parental control, and so much more, Fellini weaves together a tapestry of beauty, fear, disgust and ultimately, hope and salvation for its lead. A must see for cinema fans of the foreign avant garde.