Synopsis

An irreverent portrait of Federico Fellini told in his own words (the interviews are the last major filmed conversation with the maestro conducted in 1991 and 1992 by the director himself) exploring the creative yet profoundly contradictory facets of an artist described as the genial combination of Proust and Picasso. Given his self-avowed incapacity to distinguish truth from lies and fiction from reality, this feature documentary is a voyage from Rimini to Rome in search of an unknown Fellini and the sources of his imagination.
If the film is a celebration of the Fellini myth, it is also an unbiased exploration of it. Skifully interweaving the last unseen interviews completed before his death in 1993 with extensive film clips from his autobiographical masterpiece "Otto et mezzo" 81/2 and other major films, including a prodigious selection of rare and often never-before-seen material of Fellini directing, private 8mm rushes of Fellini and Mastroianni during the production of "La Dolce Vita", unpublished photogaphs, conversation with intimate friends and collaborators, and rushes gleaned from the cutting room floor. In keeping with Fellini's observation that "landscape is character", the film exploits the mythic Italian landscapes of his films while Roberto Benigni, Terence Stamp and Donald Sutherland provide nuanced psychological insights that illuminate the mystery of a complex and troubled genius.