Juliet of the Spirits (1965)
"Giulietta degli spiriti" (original title)

Visions, memories, and mysticism all help a 40-something woman to find the strength to leave her cheating husband.

Director:

Federico Fellini

Writers:

Federico Fellini (story), Tullio Pinelli (story),

Stars:

Giulietta Masina, Sandra Milo, Mario Pisu

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Giulietta Masina	...	Giulietta Boldrini
Sandra Milo	...	Suzy / Iris / Fanny
Mario Pisu	...	Giorgio (Giulietta's husband)
Valentina Cortese	...	Valentina
Valeska Gert	...	Pijma
José Luis de Vilallonga	...	Giorgio's friend (as José De Villalonga)
Friedrich von Ledebur	...	Medium (as Fredrich Ledebur)
Caterina Boratto	...	Giulietta's mother
Lou Gilbert	...	Grandfather
Luisa Della Noce	...	Adele
Silvana Jachino	...	Dolores
Milena Vukotic	...	Elisabetta - the maid
Fred Williams	...	Lynx-Eyes' agent
Dany París	...	Desperate friend
Anne Francine	...	Psychodramatist

Storyline

Juliet lives in a beautiful house by the ocean. Her sisters, and especially her Mother overshadow her with their beauty. She is a spiritual, superstitious and naive woman. She visits a psychic seer who tells her she must follow the sex trade in order to be happy. Not long after she meets her eccentric and sexy neighbour, Suzy, who, by all counts appears to be a high class prostitute and encourages Juilet into sexual acts which make her guilty and nervous. A rare night when her husband is at home she wakes up to catch him talking to another woman on the phone. He calls out the name "Gabriella" while sleeping, but when she questions him he lies his way out of it. She finds out who Gabriella is and fears her husband will leave her. Juliet begins having visions who accuse and terrorize her. The pinnacle of the visions comes at the end where it is implied she realizes she would be better off without her husband and is ultimately emotionally emancipated.

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Plot Keywords:

vision | eccentric | sex | memory | psychic | 

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Taglines:

Fellini's Masterpiece !

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian French

Release Date:

3 November 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

Juliet of the Spirits

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$1,524 (USA) (15 June 2001)

Gross:

$78,550 (USA) (3 August 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rizzoli Film, Francoriz Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

137 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Federico Fellini's first full-color feature.

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Quotes

Giorgio: Jose owns one of the biggest bull farms. Sometimes at night this madman puts on his own bullfight.
Giulietta Boldrini: What courage! Isn't it dangerous?
Giorgio's friend: No, signora, it's poetry. Poetry is never dangerous. My best friends are toreadors. They compose music, write verse, and abhor blood.

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Connections

Version of Alice of Wonderland in Paris (1966)

User Reviews

Juliet is a Delight!

I loved this movie. For me, as a relatively new student of Fellini, I understand that there is a progression in his films over the years. His initial films are more generally coherent stories like "La Strada" and then his later films are more focused on the visual and surreal, like "8 1/2".

This movie is somewhere in between. There is the coherent storyline of Juliet and her philandering husband and all the other strange characters in her life, like family and friends, but then there is also the psychedelic and surreal element of the spirit world that Juliet is in close contact with everyday.

Masina is great as usual--she acts a lot just with her eyes and the expressions on her face.

This film is just a delight. My suggestion is that you don't try to analyze it too deeply. Just sit back and let the colors, settings, costumes, and larger than life characters wash over you.