And the Ship Sails On
Director: Federico Fellini
Year Released: 1984
Rating: 0.5
I had hoped Fellini would have gotten whatever he did with Orchestra Rehearsal out of his system, but no, he kept on with the same 'quasi-documentary' approach of having a narrator speaking directly to the audience and introduce all the characters one by one, in a very roundabout, lackadaisical way. What's worse about this film is that it's twice as long as Orchestra Rehearsal, and even with a clipped running time I thought that was a rough-going allegory. I spent most of the time studying the set design - its sole redeeming facet - and trying to understand why he felt the non-dramatic, non-dynamic approach of watching people converse about nothing would work - Fellini's tone is sarcastic rather than discerning - and whether or not he thought the 'surreal' moments (like the sick rhinoceros defecating on people from above) were clever.
