8 1/2

Selected by Mitchell Kaplan In his second collaboration with Fellini, Marcello Mastroianni plays Guido, a filmmaker suffering from "director's block". Amid artistic and marital difficulties, he has lost interest in his new sci-fi film that includes veiled autobiographical references. He struggles to work half-heartedly with flashbacks and dreams intruding into his reality. Winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and a constant presence on prestigious compilations of the greatest films of all time, a sampling of accolades suffice to guarantee its pedigree. "It's Fellini's last black-and-white picture," wrote Jonathan Rosenbaum, "and conceivably the most gorgeous and inventive thing he ever did." Echoed Stanley Kauffmann: "In terms of execution I cannot remember a more brilliant film."