Juliet of the Spirits

Released Oct 22, 1965

2h 28m

Fantasy

List

79%

Tomatometer

29 Reviews

85%

Audience Score

5,000+ Ratings

Middle-aged Giulietta (Giulietta Masina) grows suspicious of her husband, Giorgio (Mario Pisu), when his behavior grows increasingly questionable. One night when Giorgio initiates a seance amongst his friends, Giulietta gets in touch with spirits and learns more about herself and her painful past. Slightly skeptical, but intrigued, she visits a mystic who gives her more information -- and nudges her toward the realization that her husband is indeed a philanderer.

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Kevin Maher

Times (UK)

For seasoned Fellini-ites...comfortable with the carnivalesque atmosphere, non-narrative digressions and screechy women with overdone make-up, this is one of [Fellini's] best.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 21, 2018

Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

The results are unwieldy, uneven, and overlong to say the least.

Mar 2, 2018

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Variety Staff

Variety

Director Federico Fellini has put together an imperial-sized fantasy of a physical opulence to make the old Vincente Minnelli Metro musicals look like army training films.

Mar 26, 2009

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Judith Crist

New York Herald Tribune

Miss Masina is transcendent.

Aug 15, 2022

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Dwight MacDonald

Esquire Magazine

Fellini's eye is as good as ever -- it is the mind, and the feeling, that somehow fails.

Aug 14, 2019

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Robert Brustein

The New York Review of Books

The film is specious and hollow, in addition to being very boring; and its failures bring into focus what has been bothering me about Fellini's more celebrated successes: they are indebted less to true perception than to carnival showmanship.

Mar 2, 2018

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Thomas V

I know this isn't considered Fellini's best but this is so much fun! The use of color is gorgeous, and Fellini's wife is terrific playing such a unique character. And I just love her facial expressions. She's even better here than in La Strada.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/04/23

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William L

Everything that people love and hate about Fellini; his passion for the surreal and the bizarre, the vaguely structured narratives, and the extravagant set pieces to make sure the audience doesn't get too uninterested when the storyline becomes 'open to interpretation'. Personally, I'm pretty middle-of-the-road when it comes to film interpretation - I don't like to be led by the hand, but when films become so subjective that virtually every aspect can be construed in wildly different ways, it all starts to get pretentious. Fellini's films toe that line of instilling confusion for its own sake, but at the same time the director is so creative with his visuals, and here such discord actually makes narrative sense - Masina's Giulietta undergoes a mental struggle with her own sense of self as her marriage faces a gradual collapse and she must confront the reality of her own aging, and as a response either imagines or heavily embellishes a range of eccentric characters that revolve around love, sex, or faithfulness, often featuring input from her own memory. That said, the film definitely does get very strange at points, particularly towards the end, with plenty of self-references featuring borderline manic content. The weirdness can be either a major differentiator in a sea of films that take on marital strife in a very conventional manner, or it can just feel too 'out there' to meet personal tastes. Dreamlike, poetic, and surreal, to the point where it seems like it requires a certain mood to properly enjoy. (3.5/5)

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

06/20/21

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Audience Member

A psychodrama such as only Fellini could create, uncovering the suppressed inhibitions and sexual conflicts of a woman in crisis as the certainties upon which she has built her reality - her faith, her moral values, her relationships - collapse. Crazy, hilarious, complex, disturbing, and visually stunning in this beautifully restored version. A cinematic treat from one of the all-time greats.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

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Audience Member

As usual, Fellini is clever. This movie got real depressing real quick. I lost steam with it 75% of the way through.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

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Audience Member

always balancing the world on her smile la Madonna Giulietta Masinas

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This is the first Fellini film I watch, and also it's the first time I found myself riveted and bored at the same time while watching a movie! This is definitely one of the most eccentric and whimsical movies I've ever watched. Maybe it's too whimsical for its own good! The movie as a whole didn't work for me, and I'm not really sure that I liked it. It feels like an overlong self-indulgent journey of surrealism. Undeniably, the movie could have been shorter, because it doesn't have too much to say. There is a lack of narrative cohesion, vision and creativity. That made the movie doesn't seem to focus on its main themes, but instead it uses a lot of unnecessary repetitive sub-plots that don't add so much to the main plot.There are a lot of things to admire about it, though. Juliet of the Spirits is Fellini's first work in color, and it's one of the most beautiful and colorful movies I've seen in my life! It's nothing short of eye-catching. The movie also has a harmonious music that set the tone and created a unique atmosphere from the beginning. I also liked how the hallucination scenes were directed. Some of them were very disturbing, and not easy to watch. Also, the symbolism that has been used to depict the psyche of Giulietta Boldrini is awe-inspiring! From the technical standpoint this movie is almost perfect, except for the editing; it was really awful! Giulietta Masina delivered a very expressive and emotional performance. I also appreciated the themes of the story. I actually was somewhat invested, once the movie focus on its main story. The only time the movie did so was in the last 20 minutes. I think the ending deserves 5 stars! (6.5/10)

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

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Federico Fellini

Director

Giulietta Masina

Giulietta Boldrini

Sandra Milo

Suzy

Sylva Koscina

Sylva

Mario Pisu

Giorgio (Giulietta's husband)

Alba Cancellieri

Giulietta as a child

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Synopsis

Middle-aged Giulietta (Giulietta Masina) grows suspicious of her husband, Giorgio (Mario Pisu), when his behavior grows increasingly questionable. One night when Giorgio initiates a seance amongst his friends, Giulietta gets in touch with spirits and learns more about herself and her painful past. Slightly skeptical, but intrigued, she visits a mystic who gives her more information -- and nudges her toward the realization that her husband is indeed a philanderer.

Director: Federico Fellini
Screenwriter: Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli, Brunello Rondi
Distributor: Rialto Pictures, Criterion Collection, Image Entertainment Inc.
Production Co: Rizzoli Film
Genre: Fantasy
Original Language: Italian
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 22, 1965, Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 23, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $90.7K
Runtime: 2h 28m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 35mm, Flat (1.85:1)

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