I love surrealism and stories about mid-life turning points, so I expected to enjoy JULIET OF THE SPIRITS. I ended up feeling very conflicted about the whole thing. Giulietta Masina is the best part of the film, overshadowing even the dazzling color cinematography and psychedelic set design. Her expressive eyes say more than any dialogue-- you can easily tell why she was Charlie Chaplin's favorite actress. The scene where she tries to hold it together as the detectives screen footage of her beloved husband and his mistress cavorting together is truly heartbreaking.
However, the movie itself is a strangely hollow experience and at almost two and a half hours, it's a long one at that. Unlike other unimpressed reviewers, I'm not going to claim the movie isn't saying anything. The religious imagery and satire suggests Juliet has made her husband into a god and she's been continuously martyring herself and denying her own pain to keep this awful man in her life. Good point, Fellini. Did it need to take 137 minutes to say that? You get to the point where you just don't care anymore and the movie never goes beyond the surface of Juliet's psychosexual troubles, so there's nothing especially compelling present.
However, the movie itself is a strangely hollow experience and at almost two and a half hours, it's a long one at that. Unlike other unimpressed reviewers, I'm not going to claim the movie isn't saying anything. The religious imagery and satire suggests Juliet has made her husband into a god and she's been continuously martyring herself and denying her own pain to keep this awful man in her life. Good point, Fellini. Did it need to take 137 minutes to say that? You get to the point where you just don't care anymore and the movie never goes beyond the surface of Juliet's psychosexual troubles, so there's nothing especially compelling present.