A film made in the waning years of Federico Fellini’s career (he would only go on to make two more films) the movie is a minor example of the cinematic magic that Fellini was able to conjure. Nevertheless, the magic is there and this movie captures two very charming performances from Fellini’s greatest stars and collaborator’s Marcello Mastroianni and Giulietta Masina.
An obvious lesser vehicle for Fellini in the light of his earlier work, yet there’s more than enough magic here to recommend for Fellini fans.
With ‘Ginger & Fred,’ Fellini was aiming for a good-humored jab at television entertainment and while it doesn’t quite succeed as a full-blown satire, certainly never approaching ‘Network’ or intending to, the movie works in spite of itself. That the film was actually made for Italian television channel RAI Uno also adds a sweet layer of irony to the proceedings.
Giulietta Masina (Fellini’s wife and muse, most notably the star of ‘La Strada’) and Marcello Mastroianni (8 ½) star as Amelia Bonetti and Pippo Botticella, two aging, minor celebrities who made themselves famous in Italy during the 1940’s for emulating the dancing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. They had a successful and intimate 15-year partnership but their careers faded when Astaire and Rogers careers faded. They subsequently broke up the partnership to follow different directions, their respective takes on a desired lifestyle.
We arrive in 1985, where we find that a big prime-time Italian variety show, ‘Ed Ecco a Voi’ (while variety shows pretty much worn out their welcome in the US in the 70s, the cheesiness still ran rampant on Spanish, French and Italian TV channels up through the 80s) has invited the long-broken up duo to perform on the show. Now what’s intriguing here for American viewers is that this ridiculousness has pretty much come full circle with Reality TV taking the place of these Variety shows where a cavalcade of quasi-celebrities, freaks and daredevils show up to either re-claim or get their fifteen minutes, yet with less reverence.
Amelia Bonetti aka Ginger arrives at the hotel first, where the gathering of the show’s guests converge. Thinking this could be a legitimate endeavor, that fans could still be out there for her, the first sliver of doubt appears when she finds herself surrounded by a circus act. Transvestites, celebrity look-alikes, a musical band entirely composed of midgets emerge from the buses and pour into the hotel lobby. Desperately needing a familiar face, she pines for the appearance of Pippo who she has only heard about in whisper for the past thirty years.
She fends for herself that night, conversing with the affable transvestite, fending off the advances of Clark Gable (“I have the body of a Greek God”…to which she replies “then go back to the museum”) and altogether having a peculiar if interesting night. When she finds herself having trouble falling asleep due to the deafening snoring going on the next room, her banging on the wall and finally her angry march to the room of the offending sound, she’s finally reunited with her old lover.
Amelia has led a proud, domestic existence for the past thirty years, marrying a good man with the result of several grandchildren and a perfectly acceptable existence. Pippo, however, has gone the more destructive route, with heavy drinking and even a stint in a mental hospital. Through the time leading up to their appearance on the show where they relive their glory days of great dancing, they attempt and succeed at finding each other again amidst the chaos of the final hours leading to the show.
That the film relies on dialogue and performance should be no surprise to Fellini fans. The narrative is never the big concern here as long as the film keeps moving, keeps throwing new things at the viewer. Latter day Fellini was especially fond of this type of film movement and indeed, it works. Each new scene provides something different even if the basic plot is comprised of Ginger and Fred arriving at the hotel where they meet, discuss, and congregate with the shows various other entertainers and oddballs.
Fellini’s goal here was to skewer television a bit, make us think about how classicism in cinema could survive in the age of television, in the age of anybody and everybody doing what they can for their fifteen minutes which of course is never more relevant than in the age of Reality TV. He succeeds at this goal, but only half-heartedly. His camera resting on commercials and advertising billboards and posters is obvious, heavy-handed, easy targets that didn’t need to be pointed out. The film would have transcended being merely good into great if the lackadaisical satire was toned down and the focus was put on the real interest, the rapport between and Amelia and Pippo and the immense poignancy to be gained by these great legends that merely need to show up to prove indelibly watchable on screen.
The film is presented in widescreen and is enhanced for widescreen televisions. The only special feature is the film’s theatrical trailer.
An obvious lesser vehicle for Fellini in the light of his earlier work, yet there’s more than enough magic here to recommend for Fellini fans. While his message works, if heavy-handed, the true reason to watch the film is the appearance and performances of Giulietta Masina and Marcello Mastrioanni – aging performers in which their dignity on and off screen prove eminently capable.
Ginger & Fred is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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