Product Description

Federico Fellini is one of the most beloved and revered filmmakers of the twentieth century, having entertained audiences worldwide with his ability to breathe life into imagery normally confined to human memory and emotion. His insights into the world of dreams have contributed to his many famous cinematic creations, including La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, and La Strada. A unique combination of memory, fantasy, and desire, this illustrated volume is a personal diary of Fellini’s private visions and nighttime fantasies. Fellini, winner of four Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film, kept notebooks filled with unique sketches and notes from his dreams from the 1960s onward. This collection delves into his cinematic genius as it is captured in widely detailed caricatures and personal writings. This dream diary exhibits Fellini’s deeply personal taste for the bizarre and the irrational. His sketches focus on the profound struggle of the soul and are tinged with humor, empathy, and insight. Fellini’s Book of Dreams is an intriguing source of never-before-published writings and drawings, which reveal the master filmmaker’s personal vision and his infinite imagination.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #119930 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-13
• Released on: 2008-05-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 584 pages

From The New Yorker
In the early nineteen-sixties, under the influence of a Jungian analyst, Fellini started keeping a dream diary. His films, always fantastical, soon took a distinctly oneiric turn, and he eventually filled some five hundred sheets with drawings and descriptions of his dreams, here reproduced in facsimile with English translations. Fellini archetypes (chiefly, gargantuan women in various states of undress and arousal), characters, and collaborators abound. The actor and playwright Eduardo di Filippo performs his own death onstage to rapturous, if insincere, acclaim; Pope Paul VI, who, as a cardinal, had condemned �La Dolce Vita,� ascends with Fellini in a balloon basket and points excitedly to a blimp-sized beauty in a bathing costume whose exhalations, he explains, create the clouds in the sky. As a child, Fellini named the four corners of his bed after movie theatres: �The show started as soon as I shut my eyes.�
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Review
"...an amazing record of the interior life of one of the 20th century's greatest directors." ~ARTnews

"...the dreams take center stage--and they're enough to make even the soundest of sleepers want to remember everything that goes on in the night." ~Gotham

"An old truism holds that other people's dreams are boring. But here, as with so much else, Fellini confounds. Dreams, like his films, is whimsical, poignant, grotesque and, ultimately, revelatory." ~Hollywood Life

“…it does serve as a fascinating companion that illustrates the way that the conscious artist depended on his unconscious mind.” ~Daily Sentinel

About the Author
Federico Fellini’s films include La Dolce Vita, Amarcord, 8 1/2, La Strada, Satyricon, and I Vitelloni, among others. He is recognized as one of cinema history’s greatest geniuses.

Customer Reviews

Mama Mia !
Well I just got this delivered to me today..so I can't go into huge detail about it right now...but I feel compelled to give my two cents in a short review for you good folks who might want to purchase this unique book on the great Fellini...in these recessionary times it's good to get some information before you plonk down major dough on a book..
First off....this thing is big!...and heavy!...so you do get your moneys worth on that score....loads of pages.......introduction and info at the beginning of it......all of Fellini's writing is in Italian but it is all transcribed at the back of the book with pictures and numbers of the pages referred to...well laid out........tons of sketches and doodles in this book...one thing I have to comment on which I found funny is the amount of drawings in it of naked ladies....I wasn't surprised...but it is pretty amusing...
I'm so glad I bought this now and I have no hesitation in recommending it to other fans....it's really something to treasure..

Simply Amazing
A magnificent book, a must for anyone into Fellini's work, Psychology or simply Dreams. These drawings and accompanying notes are key in understanding the poetry of the dream image.

Book of Dreams
The Book is Perfect - It came in good condition and quickly arrived. We were very pleased in all ways and would buy again.