Juliet of the Spirits Federico Fellini's Sixth Sense Reviewed by Bruce Cantwell Fellini's venture into the supernatural strikes me, at this late date as a tragic comic SIXTH SENSE. Of course, little whipper snapper Joel Haley Osment is no match for Giulietta Masina as the character who sees dead people. Besides, Juliet has bigger problems, than uncivilized schoolmates. She's married to Giorgio (Mario Pisu) an extroverted PR man caught up in the glamor of his clients' clamber toward fame. In the film's opening sequence, Juliet and staff (Giorgio is making good coin) have prepared a special candlelight dinner for the dysfunctional duo's anniversary. Giorgio enters, asks why the house is so dark, throws on the light switch, and before you can say Marcello Mastroianni, the place is filled with celebrities and hangers on, an instant circus set to Nino Rota's trademark Felliniesque music. Some of the hangers on are spiritualists and it's not long before they throw an impromptu seance in Giorgio's spacious backyard. This is Juliet's introduction to the spirit world, a world that will open up for her and comfort her as her marriage fades to black. Her journey is assisted by a happy medium (Frederick Lebedur) an Indian guru, a glamorously whacky neighbor (Valentina Cortese), and the ghost of a grandfather (Lou Gilbert) who calls her, "my little beef patty." In the midst of this surrealist, stylized festival, the human element rests squarely on the shoulders of the petite Masina. When watching her, I instantly forget that I'm watching a foreign film. It doesn't matter if I forget to read the subtitles all together. Everything of importance plays out across Masina's amazing face. Here, in her mid-forties, she expresses both childlike wonder and world weary resignation with the twinkle of an eye or the twitch of a cheek. This ain't your father's black and white Fellini. Federico embraces Technicolor with a vengeance. The biggest hats I've seen outside of I'M GONNA GET YOU SUCKA, over-the-top costumes, sets more colorful than Quentin Crisp. Fellini's storytelling style has grown almost as surrealistic as Buñuel's. It's all very festive fun.	Warning: include() [function.include]: URL file-access is disabled in the server configuration in /home/bruce20/public_html/myenvoy/movies/reviews/juliet_spirits.php3 on line 31 Warning: include(http://myenvoy.com/movies/side.php3) [function.include]: failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found in /home/bruce20/public_html/myenvoy/movies/reviews/juliet_spirits.php3 on line 31 Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening 'http://myenvoy.com/movies/side.php3' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php') in /home/bruce20/public_html/myenvoy/movies/reviews/juliet_spirits.php3 on line 31
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