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A heads up for a head spinning film, Juliet of the Spirits (1965) has often been termed excessive, pretentious, flashy overkill, and other fine adjectives by reviewers who never took the time to understand Federico Fellini’s first venture into color.
Giulietta Masina is Juliet, a timid, faithful housewife to a faithless husband who cannot even remember their anniversary. Her world is one of quiet submission and servitude until rising emotions compel her to examine the reality of her existence.
Critics have often labeled this film a female counterpart to Fellini’s earlier 8 ½ (1963) and there are many parallels. Juliet like Guido, can only change her future by visiting the past. Acceptance of that past is what gives her the power to change present circumstances. These experiences flood her world in kaleidoscopic visions that relate in various ways to her present life. For instance, the vision of a Christian martyr she enacted in a school play has significance in her tortured martial relations. A man who is pulling a rope (and hands it to her) is in real life the private detective she has hired to discover the truth about her husband.
Fellini was seen by many as an exploiter of women, but actually he was always a supporter of female empowerment. From I Vitelloni (1953), when gigolo Fausto must learn respect for his wife and child, to The Nights of Cabiria (1957) where a prostitute learns her self worth does not come from others, but within, Fellini’s women are always growing (in this period) in self awareness and realization. Juliet is a continuation of this theme, where a grown woman faces down her childhood fears to discover a new world that is waiting for her and fantasy is left behind.
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Juliet of the Spirits plays tonight on TCM.