The female counterpoint to 8½, Fellini ventures deeply into the surreal as JULIET OF THE SPIRITS explores the repressed desires of a bourgeois housewife, played by Giulietta Masina who stars as a middle-aged woman haunted by hallucinations from her past and subconscious. While her husband philanders, she consults clairvoyants and mediums and escapes into a world of imagination drawn from the “spirits” of her past, present, and future. In an effort to prevent her world from crumbling, she confronts the specters and fantasies that have imprisoned her throughout her life. A lavish and baroque visual spectacle, JULIET boasts Gianni de Venanzo’s brilliant cinematography, a memorable score by Nino Rota, and the opulent fashion designs of Piero Gheradi, who won Oscars for Best Costume Design for LA DOLCE VITA and 8½. Winner of the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Picture. (148 mins.)
JULIET OF THE SPIRITS screens Saturday, March 14 at 7pm and Sunday, March 15 at 4pm in our Whitsell Auditorium (located in the Portland Art Museum). The film is being presented as part of our Italian Style series.
The Portland Art Museum’s exhibition, “Italian Style: Fashion Since 1945,” provides the inspiration for this survey of iconic Italian and Italian-set classics from the 1950s and 60s. During this era, Italian fashion, and everything from Italian thought, attitude, and automobiles to food, design, and Vespas, influenced audiences, filmmakers and culture worldwide—especially in the United States. A legacy of alluring films, directors, and stars timelessly endures, still providing inspiration and an unmistakably Italian vision of pop culture cool.
Tickets are available online or at the door.
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