Fellini: Je suis un grand menteur (2002)

Director:

Damian Pettigrew

Writers:

Damian Pettigrew (scenario) and
Olivier Gal (scenario)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography

Plot:

A look at Fellini's creative process. In extensive interviews, Fellini talks a bit about his background...

Plot Keywords:

Interview | Reality | Improvisation | Puppet | Archive Footage

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Roberto Benigni	...	Himself / La Voce della Luna
Luigi 'Titta' Benzi	...	Himself / Ami d'enfance
Italo Calvino	...	Himself / Ecrivain
Dante Ferretti	...	Himself / Chef décorateur
Rinaldo Geleng	...	Himself / Peintre
Tullio Pinelli	...	Himself / Scénariste
Giuseppe Rotunno	...	Himself / Directeur de la photographie
Terence Stamp	...	Himself / Toby Dammit
Donald Sutherland	...	Himself / Casanova
Daniel Toscan du Plantier	...	Himself / Producteur
Federico Fellini	...	Himself

Also Known As:

Federico Fellini: I'm a Big Liar (USA) (literal English title)
Federico Fellini: Sono un gran bugiardo (Italy)
Fellini: I Am a Born Liar (Australia)
Fellini: I'm a Born Liar (USA)
Fellini: Sono un gran bugiardo (Italy)
I'm a Born Liar (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some language and sexual content.

Runtime:

USA:105 min

Country:

France | Italy | UK

Language:

English | Italian | French

Color:

Color | Black and White (archive footage)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | France:U | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Bagnoregio, Viterbo, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Portrait & Cie

Quotes:

Donald Sutherland: The first five weeks of shooting were hell on earth.

Movie Connections:

References La strada (1954)

Interview with a great maestro

Damian Pettygrew's "Je suis un grand menteur" is an extraordinary documentary, in that it captures the great Italian director, Federico Fellini, speaking to us about his ideas, technique, craftsmanship, and his relationship with the movies in which he was involved. Federico Fellini speaks candidly about his way of making movies and about himself.

Only a few of his collaborators were called upon to talk about the maestro. Fellini was a figure larger than life; his pictures were the way for him to express his ideas to his audience. It's curious only three actors were selected for the documentary: Donald Sutherland, Terence Stamp and Roberto Benigni. Omitted from it were collaborators like Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimee, Anita Ekberg and other living actors that are still living who could have added their views to the documentary.

Having seen "The Magic of Fellini", directed by Carmen Piccini, Damian Pettygrew's film doesn't add anything that had not been known before as Fellini remains a figure that had all the ideas in his mind, but it seems he was a man whose way of working depended a lot on the improvisation he brought to the set on any given moment.

Mr. Pettygrew finds parallels between Fellini and Guido, his character of "8-1/2", who was at best, an enigma because everything he had stored in his head and how, at times, it was so hard for him to communicate the ideas to the people he was working with, at the time.

"Je suis un grand menteur" is a must see for all Fellini fans.