Federico Fellini, giant of film, dies

Fellini, 1955

From the archive, 01 November 1993: Federico Fellini, giant of film, dies

Italy leads the world of cinema in mourning a man whose films were a blend of reality, wit, fantasy and brazen self-indulgence

Ed Vulliamy in Rome
The Guardian, Friday 1 November 2013 06.30 GMT

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Federico Fellini (1920-1993). Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext Collection/Sportsphoto

The renowned film director Federico Fellini died at midday yesterday, ending a 90-day struggle for health and later for life, and closing an era in both 20th century Italian culture and world cinema.

On the day after his 50th wedding anniversary, Fellini's heart finally gave way under the stress of a haemorrhage which had crippled his left side.

He died, aged 73, in the Umberto I Polyclinic hospital in Rome, although he first fell ill in his home town of Rimini on August 3. Fellini insisted on leaving the Rome hospital as late as October 17 for the evening to take his wife, Giulietta Masina, to dinner. He went into the coma soon afterwards.'Fifty years ago,' said Ms Masina, 'I realised that this was a man for me. Now I have no will but to follow him.'

Fellini had left his own inimitable mark on cinema with his films which were a blend of reality, wit, fantasy and brazen self-indulgence. Among the films considered his masterpieces were: La Strada, La Dolce Vita, Roma, Amarcord, 8½, and latterly, Ginger and Fred. He won Oscars for five of his films and a special Oscar this year for his services to cinema.

Fellini was one of the four giants of Italian cinema in the post-war years. With two others - Rossellini and Visconti - already dead, the sole survivor is Michelangelo Antonioni.

One of the first of hundreds of tributes to be delivered yesterday was from Francesco Rosi, one of the generation of Italian film directors which followed that of Fellini.

'He was a genius,' said Mr Rosi, 'of a greatness which is irreplaceable; a greatness for Italy, for the world and for art. Dear Federico, I am already missing you a great deal.'

President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro arrived to pay his respects and later released a statement saying, 'the voice of this artist lives on in Italy and the world. It is a voice of life that knows no sunset.'

The prime minister, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, said Italy 'revered Fellini as one of its great national poets.'

The actress Sophia Loren, who presented Fellini with his life achievement Oscar earlier this year, commented: 'A great light has gone out and now we are all in the dark.'

THE GUARDIAN