There is one moment in 8 ½, right before that wonderful and delirious circus of an ending queues up, that shows just how human the protagonist, Guido Anselmi, is. As Guido and Carini walk away from the abandoned structure meant to be spaceship and central set piece to Guido’s movie, Guido stops for a moment and looks back at the huge edifice, as the writer walks on chattering. Although Guido isn’t even facing the camera, I’m convinced I know exactly what’s going through his head at this moment – he’s thinking, maybe there’s some way that he can make his movie happen, that he can still make it work. Despite all rational and practical thought telling otherwise, in spite of all the hardship and frustration the project has caused him, for one moment, the artist in him, or the optimist, still doesn’t want to give it up.

--Luke Darby