neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Juliet Of The Spirits
	Federico Fellini Giulietta Masina, Sandra Milo, Mario Pisu, Valentina Cortese, José Luis de Villalonga, Sylva Koscina 1965 Criterion collection — widescreen; in Italian; English subtitles; "Familiar Spirits," a 19-minute interview with director Federico Fellini by Ian Dallas; theatrical trailer.		Federico Fellini's first color film simply confirmed the director's mastery over the celluloid art, no matter what the hue. His black-and-white work is unparalleled, but he really took to the rainbow palette that would enrich his sybaritic epic, "Satyricon," and his memory play, "Amarcord." Seen in this new digital transfer, "Juliet of the Spirits" is ocular confection of the highest order. As he did when he made his gritty "Nights of Cabiria," Fellini cast his wife Giulietta Masina in the lead role. Here, she's Juliet, an unhappy, upscale housewife whose husband is cheating on her. Rather than make a clean break from the philanderer, Juliet begins to lose herself in a fantasy world — one Fellini vividly realizes through his colorful cast and even more colorful art direction, reflecting the wild, mod elements of '60s Italian fashion and design. Ultimately, it's Masina's kewpie-doll sweetness and vulnerability as she struggles to get her bearings that make "Juliet..." such a spirited experience.