But Guido is not a suffering, tortured artist. His alter-ego on this surreal, introspective journey is Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni), a successful director of films “without hope” who takes a holiday at an exclusive health spa in order to overcome a creative dry spell. In addition to being his final film shot in black and white, the subtle forms and religious iconography of his earlier neorealist films have been replaced by precisely composed, comic absurdity and exaggerated, hyperbolic imagery – of what was to become his signature, Felliniesque, style.

The film, 8 1/2, literally marks Fellini’s work on 8 1/2 feature films (the “1/2” derived from collaborative direction films), and proves to be a transitional film in his artistic career. But it is also an indelible image that shatters any preconceived illusion of “typical” elements in a Fellini film. In an opening scene that symbolizes much of Fellini’s films, a suffocating man, trapped inside his car, inexplicably begins to float into the skies, only to be abruptly tugged back to the ground.

8 1/2 weaves fluidly through the visually intoxicating landscape of Federico Fellini’s subconscious, seemingly to seek inspiration and validation for his life and work.