Review: Ginger and Fred (1986)

Italy, Federico Fellini

Next to Buster Keaton, I think Giulietta Masina has the most amazing face in film. Hers is the most expressive; so much of her great acting is done without uttering a word. As you watch her react to others, whole lines of dialog pass across her face. Eyes, eyebrows, mouth and cheeks work to create a character without being clowinish or untrue.

In Ginger and Fred, she is half of a has-been dance team that made their fame by impersonating the famous duo of the same name. Reunited many years later with her partner (Marcello Mastroianni) for a Jerry Lewis style holiday variety show, the two find their a bit out of their element, surrounded by a circus of performers and oddities celebrating their 15-minutes of fame on Italian TV. The usual strange Fellini touches and over-the-top costumes are here, as well as some hilarious parodies of TV commercials, but at the heart is a sad but sweet relationship between two old friends.