“The original title of Fellini's 8 ½ was 'Bella confusion', and Fellini called his film a comedy. Anyone who has seen 8 ½ cannot help but laugh at the eclectic and satirical humor that permeates Fellini's work, but in the end the film is not comical” (Horak). While some critics (such as Horak) argue that Federico Fellini's 8 ½ (1963) evokes a partial tragedy, one could dually argue that the film embodies a classical, “bathos” model; everything within the play, even the dramatic elements, registers as comical. Similar to Satyricon, Fellini's 8 ½ incorporates myriad visual contrasts (dichromatic design elements, arthouse editing style, and various acting techniques) to comically externalize his past relationships with women as well as his breakthrough relationship with film practice. The foundational dream sequence (shots 1-18) sets the tone of the entire film, “The Fellini method is parodic and caricatural, the exaggeration of the same, reflected in a distorting amusement park mirror” (Rohdie 60). Fellini blends crisis and comedy (even fantasy and reality) to clearly demonstrate Guido's perpetual reverie: the entertainment industry. The dream state serves as a foreshadowing technique in which the audience assumes Guido's fate, alluding to the original traditions of Greek seaside theatre. The ghostly nature of the sequence diminishes the verisimilitude of the project. Guido's dramatized gestures and the opposite understatement of passers-by are perfectly juxtaposed within the scene, creating irony and, therefore, humor. The overtly contrasting color of the sequence reflects a clear delineation between: the turmoil of Guido's life (pressure from critics, his patron...... middle of paper ......nto: University of Toronto, 1995.Horak , Paul. "The actress takes inspiration from Fellini for the production." The Chronicle [Duke University Press] 17 September 2009, Arts sec. Rohdie, Fellini Lexicon London: British Film Institute, 2002. Print.Singer Kubrick and Fellini. Creating Cinematic Myths: Philosophy in Film Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2008. Print.Stubbs, John C. Federico Fellini as Author: Seven Aspects of His Films: Southern Illinois University, 2006. Print.Van Ordine, M Thomas. Listening to Fellini: Music and Meaning in Black and White. Madison, New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 2009. Press Fairleigh Dickinson University Press in Italian Studies. Wilinsky, Barbara Art Veneer Covering a Filthy Sex Picture': Discourses on Places 'art in the 1950s.' Indiana University Press 8.2 (1996): 143-58. Press.