I, Fellini

Chandler, who befriended and interviewed Italian film director Federico Fellini from 1980 until shortly before his death in 1993, has distilled their talks into a first-person narrative that reveals a touchy, egocentric, obsessive personality, a perfectionist who claimed never to have seen any of his films once he'd completed them. Fellini credits his wife, the late actress Giulietta Masina, with helping him discover the imaginative terrain he explored in his movies. He recalls his privileged yet emotionally deprived childhood--his father was a remote, philandering wine-and-cheese salesman with whom Federico's strict, religious mother was bitterly unhappy. Fellini also discusses the symbolism of his dreams, his single, unfruitful LSD trip and his study of Jungian psychology, which helped him unchain his subconscious and place fantasy over realism. Chandler wrote Hello, I Must Be Going with Groucho Marx. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct.)