If you have ever wondered why Federico Fellini's film 8½ was called 8½, the reason is simple. It was the eighth full film he had directed, till that point, along with a ½ film credit, which was his debut effort, 1950's co-direction in the 97 minute long black and white film Variety Lights (Luci Del Varietà), along with Neo-Realist film directing veteran Alberto Lattuada. The film's story and screenplay, however, were both penned by Fellini, and the most manifest thing about the film is its similarity to the Hollywood film All About Eve, released the same year- albeit it is a bit grittier, more realistic and less melodramatically star-driven, and its influence on Fellini's own later La Strada, as well as presaging many Fellini trademarks and tics. It is not a great film, but a thoroughly enjoying light bit of entertainment. Before this film, Fellini had mostly worked as a screenplay writer and script doctor. His most well known contribution prior to this film was on Roberto Rossellini's Open City
.despite their poverty and idiocy, selfishness and ill manners, the characters in Variety Lights are lovable and utterly human. They are not the grotesques and caricatures that would become Fellini's stock in trade in later years. They merely have to clutch to a goose, shrug an eyebrow, or yawn lazily on a divan, and the sense is that these are real people, not mere fictive characters. Even the camera lingers on them in soft hues, suggesting the empathy of the filmmakers'. The insider knowledge the film displays is classic Fellini territory, and despite being an ensemble film it is really the stellar acting of Peppino De Filippo that raises this film above mere schmaltz, which it could have become rather easily. No, it's not as deep nor poignant as Charlie Chaplin's Limelight, released two tears later- a film with similar themes and backgrounds, but it is a worthwhile film, and one that stands up to repeated viewings.
Review of Variety Lights
