Ginger e Fred (1986)

Director:

Federico Fellini

Writers:

Federico Fellini (story) &
Tonino Guerra (story) ...

Release Date:

28 March 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Amelia and Pippo are reunited after several decades to perform their old music-hall act (imitating Fred...

Plot Keywords:

TV | Show | Television | Variety Show | Soft Focus

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 9 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Giulietta Masina	...	Amelia Bonetti / Ginger
Marcello Mastroianni	...	Pippo Botticella / Fred
Franco Fabrizi	...	Show host
Friedrich von Ledebur	...	Admiral Aulenti (as Frederick Ledebur)
Augusto Poderosi	...	Transvestite
Martin Maria Blau	...	Assistant director
Jacques Henri Lartigue	...	Brother Gerolamo (as Jacques Henry Lartigue)
Totò Mignone	...	Totò (as Toto Mignone)
Ezio Marano	...	The Intellectual
Antoine Saint-John	...	Bandaged man (as Antoine Saint Jean)
Friedrich von Thun	...	Kidnapped Industrialist (as Frederich Thun)
Antonino Iuorio	...	TV Inspector (as Antonio Iuorio)
Barbara Scoppa	...	Journalist
Elisabetta Flumeri	...	Journalist
Salvatore Billa	...	Clark Gable

Also Known As:

Federico Fellini's Ginger & Fred (USA) (DVD box title)
Ginger and Fred (USA)
Ginger et Fred (France)
Ginger und Fred (West Germany)

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

Italy | France | West Germany

Language:

Italian | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Italy:T | Netherlands:6 | Australia:PG | Argentina:13 | Finland:S | Switzerland:16 (canton of the Grisons) | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:16 (bw)

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Bibo TV

Movie Connections:

Featured in Autumn of the Magician (2009)

The last great Fellini movie

I think this is the last great Federico Fellini picture. Maybe it's not as classic as "I vitelloni", "La strada", "Le notti di Cabiria", "La dolce vita", "Otto e mezzo" and "Amarcord", but it's a return to a more comedy style and it's one of the most accessible works of the Maestro as well.

"Ginger e Fred" (1985) comes after a series of more experimental films from Fellini. In this satirical comedy about TV power, a couple of old dancers reunite for a Christmas show. They enter a world where everything is taken for making audience, the two and their art are just caricatures... But who cares? The only important thing is audience.

In this feature Fellini warns about TV dangers -in a very sarcastic way he anticipates what TV is today with all these Reality shows.

The film is a typical Fellini picture -the story has not a real plot, it's a voyage where strange people (also in a physical way!) meet, we always can find exaggerated and ambiguous situations...

At the same time there's a lot of tenderness between the two dancers, superbly played by Marcello Mastroianni (who starred in several Fellini works) and Giulietta Masina (the actual Fellini's wife). It's useless to say that the chemistry between the two main actors is rally great.

It's quite a nostalgic movie -it seems that Fellini looks back and thinks about a world in which fantasy and creativity could be expressed in a better way, whereas TV kills everything.

The two subsequent films of the Italian director ("Intervista" and "La voce della luna") are rather minor -although poetic they're not as fresh and simple as "Ginger e Fred".

We miss Federico, Giulietta and Marcello.