Cult Movies/8 1/2

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Expert: Dave Aldridge - 12/11/2006


Question
What is the significance of the number 8 1/2 in Fellini's film of the same title? Thank you.

Answer
As far as I know, this doesn't have any deeper meaning than the well known one (here quoted from Derek Malcolm in the Guardian):

"Its title refers to the fact that, up to then, Fellini had made seven features and two episodes in composite films that added up to about a half. Its central character is Guido (Marcello Mastroianni), a film-maker based partly on Fellini. He's a successful director, with everything in place to make another hit but with no actual story to tell - perhaps as Fellini felt after the success of La Dolce Vita."

http://film.guardian.co.uk/Century_Of_Films/Story/0,4135,44103,00.html

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Dave Aldridge

Expertise

Spaghetti Westerns. The concept of Genre and Genre Films. I can also answer questions about films which are particularly philosophically stimulating. You didn't "get" the film? You saw The Matrix but don't know anything about Baudrillard? Or The Addiction, but you don't know Nietzsche? I can probably help you with that - I usually know who the key thinkers or influences were and can summarise the relevant aspects of their thought.

Experience

Avid film fan, with a particularly good collection of rare Spaghetti Westerns. If I haven't seen it, I'll find it and watch it. Particular interest in Continental Philosophy and Literary Criticism. Widely read in this area.

Organizations
Head of Department of Theology and Philosophy at a leading UK independent school in Surrey.

Education/Credentials
BA Literae Humaniores, Oxford University (completed 2000) PGCE Religious Education (completed 2001) MA Philosophy and Religion (completed 2006) MA Philosophy and Religion, Heythrop College, University of London (completed this year).

Awards and Honors
See above.

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