Kicking off the first in our In Dreams series of the CinePunked Podcast, a semi-regular exploration of dreams on screen is our exploration into Frederico Fellini’s 1963 surrealist classic Otto E Mezzo (aka 8 1/2). A film within a film, an exploration of creativity, mental health crisis and hedonism, an Academy Award winner, a hugely influential work, and a discourse on the line between dreams, memory and reality.
With Robert JE Simpson and Neil Sedgewick
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SLEEVE NOTES
This episode of the CinePunked podcast marks the first in what we intend to be a semi-regular series – In Dreams – an exploration of depictions of dreams on screen. Inspired by a viewing of Nicholas Cage film Dream Scenario, we felt that this would be a fertile ground for exploring, and possibly revealing both about film and about ourselves.
There are links to some of our earlier podcasts. We’ve looked at dreamscapes in the likes of The Matrix, Ryan Reynolds’ Free Guy, or indeed, Jean Cocteau’s Testament d’Orphee, but not with the same sort of focus.
I’m surprised we haven’t touched Fellini before on the pod – probably something to do with the tastes of those of us involved at various stages, but I’ll be honest, I’m a longtime admirer. I was introduced to his films by my university professor Sam Rohdie – whose book on the director, Fellini Lexicon, I strongly recommend. Otto e mezzo tapped into all the right bits of my brain, with its surreal leanings, its exploration of creativity and a bevy of beautiful people and imagery. That I’m now the same age as lead character Guido, gave this viewing an added poignancy.
Our conversation weaves in and out of the themes and imagery on show. We talk about diegetic soundtracks, the role of the circus, the importance of childhood, male fantasy, and a little on the mental health aspects.
On that latter issue, it strikes me we’re basically watching a filmmaker in the middle of a mental breakdown, a bit of a mid-life crisis too. And while I understand Fellini went through a similar process before the filming started, there is something more to be teased out here which this pod doesn’t do.
The importance of the film itself, its resonance, is perhaps best exemplified by that one dance sequence, which Quentin Tarantino borrowed for Pulp Fiction some three decades later – its different, and yet the same. Sometimes we know films, without having ever seen them, and I suspect Otto e mezzo is like that for many people.
We recorded the episode via our usual remote workflow, meeting via a zoom video chat, and I edited in Reaper, substituting an alternate desk recording of my vocals in lieu of the zoom guide track. We seem to have fixed the issues that affected the last couple of recordings.
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The CinePunked Podcast is an Avalard Production.
The CinePunked theme music is ‘Riding the Synth‘ – © 2020, Ben Blademan Simpson. Used with permission.
The episode features clips from Otto E Mezzo (1963) directed by Frederico Fellini, used under fair use guidelines for the purposes of critical review and analysis.
The episode includes quotations from the following books:
Fellini Lexicon by Sam Rohdie, published by BFI, London, 2002.
Available to purchase here: https://amzn.to/4jmza23
Book of Dreams by Frederico Fellini, published by Rizzoli, New York, 2020
A new deluxe edition is available to purchase here: https://amzn.to/3PJInnn
Episode recorded remotely in Coleraine and Newtownards, Northern Ireland on 19 January 2025.
Engineered and edited by Robert JE Simpson. First published on 21 January 2025.
– Robert
CinePunked 