Robert Hughes, the famous art critic, once said that an artist’s charge is to produce art that has something to say about our world. Federico Fellini, the celebrated Italian film director, was acutely aware of this task. In 8 ½, arguably his most renowned film, the protagonist, a director caught in the midst of creative stupor, reflects, “I thought I had something so simple to say. Something useful to everybody. A film that could help bury forever all those dead things we carry within ourselves.”
    The new book, Federico Fellini: The Films (Rizolli, $75), carefully explores Fellini’s oeuvre. The 317-page tome is beautifully laid out, full of behind-the-scene images and biographical photos, many published for the first time. Some of the photos printed in the book are iconic, like the image of Anita Ekberg splashing in Fontana de Trevi from La Dolce Vita. Other visuals, like Fellini’s drawings are extremely rare.
    Yet, this is not merely a coffee table book. The volume successfully combines lush imagery with a meticulous study of each of the twenty-five pictures that Fellini directed. These summaries are written by Tullio Kezich, the director’s faithful biographer, and contain comprehensive background information, from ideas born in Felinni’s head to their final manifestation as films. Each chapter starts with a quote by the director that relays an anecdote, inviting us into the filmmaker’s world, depicting his struggles and anxieties. Fellini was dubbed the Maestro, but the book depicts a man who doubted, questioned, and painstakingly toiled in order to achieve the mastery of cinematic form while maintaining a singular voice.