--- title: "8½: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/812/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/812" critics_score: 85 critics_reviews: 16 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # 8½ (1963): what the critics said Critics' score 85 from 16 reviews: 15 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics agree this is one of Fellini’s best films and the definitive portrait of a director who cannot get his next picture started. The praise clusters on the dream sequences and on the way the film slides between memory, fantasy and what is happening on set, with the opening and the harem daydream named more than once. Gianni Di Venanzo’s black-and-white photography and Nino Rota’s score are singled out repeatedly, as is Marcello Mastroianni’s performance as the blocked director. The spread is narrow, with fifteen positive reviews and a single mixed one. The reservations are mostly historical. The New York Times, reviewing in 1963, finds the ending a letdown, and The Hollywood Reporter of the same year doubts its appeal beyond art houses. The Independent, in 1993, calls it dated but fitfully arresting. Even admirers concede it is self-indulgent and divisive, though most count that as part of its point. ## Little White Lies — Ian Mantgani Rating 5/5/5. 1 May 2015. The critic hails the film as an iconic masterpiece and a re-release worth seeing on the big screen. They praise its fluid shifts between reality, dream, memory and fantasy, its sincerity beneath virtuosic set pieces, and its enduring emotional resonance as a map of life’s stresses and creative catharsis. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/8-c2-bd) ## Radio Times — David Parkinson Rating 5/5. Parkinson praises the film as a mesmerising, complex study of creative and personal crisis. He singles out its mix of daydreams, memories, nightmares and confrontations for capturing Fellini’s struggle to sustain his reputation. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-k3c6xf/8/) ## Financial Times — Danny Leigh Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 30 April 2015. The critic describes the digitally restored re-release as a glorious portrait of a grand director folding in on himself. It ranks among the greatest movies about movies. [Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/41d30d50-ef30-11e4-87dc-00144feab7de) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 23 April 2010. Turan describes 8 1/2 as a timeless classic of personal cinema about self-portraiture and the creative process. He singles out its ability to enthrall through imagination and instinct. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-apr-23-la-et-eight-half-20100423-story.html) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 7 May 1993. Ebert calls 8 1/2 a great film and the definitive work about director's block. He singles out its autobiographical elements and the famous harem daydream sequence for praise. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/fellinis-8-12-1993) ## Slant Magazine — Joseph Jon Lanthier Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 10 December 2024. The critic views 8½ as a pivotal shift in Fellini’s work from neorealism to oneiric, personal cinema about creative and masculine crisis, praising its self-deprecating comedy, Freudian elements, and focus on the women in the protagonist’s life. The review highlights the film’s embrace of cinema as an expression of the panicked id and its enduring influence. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/8-and-a-half-4k-uhd-blu-ray-review-federico-fellini/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 30 April 2015. The critic praises Fellini’s hallucinatory masterpiece as a compelling meditation on films as dreams and memories that exerts an irresistible pull. The opening dream sequence stands out as one of the most incredible things in cinema. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/apr/30/8-and-a-half-review-federico-fellini) ## The New Yorker — Brendan Gill Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 29 June 1963. Gill praises the film as marvellous and a comedy about life's absurdities and desirability. He highlights Fellini's inventive cinematic tricks, performances, photography, and witty script. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1963/06/29/without-a-net) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1962. The review calls 8 1/2 an exciting, stimulating monumental creation that tops La Dolce Vita. It praises the intensely personal storytelling and Fellini's ability to confess innermost thoughts entertainingly. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1962/film/reviews/8-1-2-1200420457/) ## Empire — Steve Goldman Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2012. The critic praises the film as one of Fellini's masterpieces and a powerful personal statement that continues to beguile despite being divisive. It singles out the sprawling portrait of the artist and the creative process in crisis. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/8-1-2-review/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — James Powers Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 11 July 1963. The film is a grim fable of modern man and a true art picture likely limited in general appeal but strong in art houses. It features penetrating and witty moments with strong performances, especially from Marcello Mastroianni, and excellent technical credits including editing and music. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/8-review-1963-federico-fellini-movie-1123323/) ## The New York Times — Bosley Crowther Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 26 June 1963. Fellini has made a stimulating contemplation of a sweet guy, though it leaves an uncomfortable feeling of letdown at the end. The critic praises the director's tremendous pictorial poetry, intimations of pathos and longing, skill with the silly and grotesque, and splendid performing, along with another delicious Nino Rota score. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1963/06/26/archives/screen-fellinis-contemplation-of-a-directors-life8-is-first-showing.html) ## The Times — Kate Muir Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 May 2015. The critic describes the film as a surreal self-interrogation in which Mastroianni plays a blocked director fantasising about women and his past. She highlights the lush black-and-white photography and the restoration screening at the BFI. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/article/classic-film-of-the-week-8-1963-xnv96ckxddf) ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 28 March 1993. The short review describes the film as post-modernism 1963-style about a director on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It notes that it is dated but fitfully arresting. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/video-8-1-2-15-connoisseur-1500421.html) ## HeyUGuys — Aleyha Ahmed Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 May 2015. The critic praises this restored rerelease of Fellini's classic as a darkly funny, brilliantly acted masterpiece about life, art and the psyche, centered on the chaotic world of filmmaking. They highlight the film's rare cohesion through striking black-and-white cinematography and Nina Rota's score, and urge viewers to see it on the big screen. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/8-12-review/) ## The Skinny — Philip Concannon Rating ★★★★. 6 November 2013. The critic views 8½ as a singular, self-indulgent yet extraordinary act of creative expression that grows more stimulating with each viewing. They single out the memorable black-and-white images by cinematographer Gianni Di Venanzo and the dazzling dream sequences and scenes featuring the women from the protagonist's past. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/dvd-reviews/8) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/812.md