Eva Grimaldi in Intervista (1987)

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Sleight-of-hand magicians and brilliant bullshit artists exert one common fascination. An entranced audience takes in the performance, is dazzled almost to a point of suspended disbelief, and later wonders: “We know that what we saw and heard is not what really happened, but how in the hell did they pull off that stunt?” A master of adorning obvious illusion with concrete substance, adored Italian film director Federico Fellini referred to his occupation as a type of exalted liar. Fellini’s peculiar blend of playful profundity is presented inside out in Intervista (1987). At once a retrospective, a fictionalized autobiographical account, and an elaborate send-up of the movie industry’s tempestuous personalities, equal parts paean and prank, Intervista is a love letter from the bullshitter within to the public magician.