Watching these three movies from late in Fellini’s career, it’s easy to remember that he started out as a cartoonist. The sweep is lavish, his characters are depicted in the broadest strokes and people introduce themselves with the celluloid equivalent of helpful little speech balloons. Subtle it isn’t. But Fellini, even when mired in self-parody, remains one of cinema’s great visual showmen, and there’s plenty to enjoy here. Orchestral Rehearsal is elementary political allegory, with the members of a classical orchestra bickering, backbiting and revolting against their conductor, while And The Ship Sails On sees allegory combine with classical music once more. Most touching of the three films, though, is Ginger And Fred, with a pair of ageing dancers reunited for one last time on a high-trash TV show.
DVD Extras:
The extras are lavish, with docs and biogs scattered throughout the box set.
