The White Sheik

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Audience Member "The White Sheik" offers a refreshingly light and comic take on a young couple's turmoil as their dreams and earthly duties conflict, leading them on harried separate journeys through Rome as they come to terms with the true nature of their innermost feelings. There is a sweetness here; a sentimental innocence that may even catch the unsuspecting viewer off-guard. As an early work of Fellini, "The White Sheik" offers subtle intimations of the richness and imagination which would eventually come to characterized his greatest works, including a boisterous depiction of Italian culture, buoyant storytelling, and momentary infusions of breathtaking fantasy. It can therefore be noted that despite "The White Sheik's" generally rudimentary qualities, it is still worth a view to anyone wishing to meditate on the roots of this greatest of Italian filmmakers. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Fra B Never forget that on top of everything that makes Fellini a genius there's brilliant comedy. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/06/22 Full Review scott s For Fellini's first feature, it is a pretty basic film, but what makes this film so special is to see the origin of the director's style and themes we see play out in all of his other films. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Thematically, the film is on-point, insomuch as it deals with notions of showmanship as escapism from one's reality. It is the tale of vacationing newlyweds separated when the bride (Brunella Bovo) runs off to meet the true love of her life, the White Sheik- a romance novel hero brought to life in movies by a hammy actor with an inflated ego (Alberto Sordi). The husband (Leopoldo Trieste), flummoxed and left in an embarrassing bind by her disappearance, spends the film making excuses and searching for her, but mostly making awkward faces at the camera. While not a bad romantic comedy, it is, by Fellini standards, an unstable effort. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Fellini's first film is a comic fantasy that already shows signs of his penchant for unusual faces and detours from reality. A newlywed couple travels from the provinces to Rome for their honeymoon, but unbeknownst to the husband (Leopoldo Trieste), his young wife (Brunella Bovo) has been writing to the photoplay magazine star, The White Sheik (played by Alberto Sordi), and immediately escapes to seek a meeting with her fangirl crush. Of course, he turns out to be much less than imagined, although she is swept off her feet at first onto a photography set 26 km from Rome from whence it proves difficult to return. At the same time, the husband has to make excuses to his uncle and aunt and extended family who had planned to take them to visit the Pope among other destinations. Trieste's eyes bulge and he sweats profusely as he struggles to keep this secret under wraps. Giulietta Masina has a cameo as Cabiria, a sympathetic prostitute (a character she would later play to acclaim in Nights of Cabiria, 1957). The whole thing is short and sweet, funny and impossible without Nino Rota's distinctive score (a definite preview of his later work with Fellini). A great start to a masterful career. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member A rather straightforward comedy by Fellini standards, but one bolstered by expressive performances and with no shortage of thematic depth. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The White Sheik

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