It seems we're entering a bit of a renaissance in terms of movies about filmmakers. One could easily argue that Martin Scorsese's "Hugo" was a biopic of Georges Melies and there are already two Alfred Hitchcock centered flicks on the way: "The Girl" and "Hitchcock." And just this morning, the Cannes Film Festival added the biopic "Renoir" the lineup in the south of France. And now, another giant filmmaker is getting the big screen treatment with an intriguing cast lining up.
Federico Fellini will get his story told in "Fellini Black And White" a new project coming from the mind of "Homeland" executive producer Henry Bromwell, who write the script and direct the movie. The film boasts a pretty great concept that we think Fellini himself would like, centering on the director's first trip to Los Angeles in 1957 for the Oscars where "Nights Of Cabiria" was nominated, only to disappear for two days before making it to the ceremony. The film will ponder what the director did in that time, having him discover the vibrant jazz and surf scenes of the era and falling in love with a veterinarian, while his wife finds herself in the arms of Ricky Nelson. It's the kind of blurring between truth, reality and myth that Fellini himself dabbled in, so it seems like a fun approach.
"Elite Squad" actor Wagner Moura has landed the title role, an interesting choice to say the least — a Brazilian actor playing an Italian filmmaker. Meanwhile, Peter Dinklage will play the vet's lover, William H. Macy is on board as the director's publicist while Terrence Howard will play a jazz musician who introduces Fellini to the scene, man. So far, it sounds very promising and since Fellini would go on to direct "La Dolce Vita" and "8 1/2" after his L.A. visit, surely, something special must have happened.
