1963
black and white film by Italian director
Frederico Fellini. The title refers to the seven feature-length and one short ("half a film") he had previously directed. When he couldn't come up with a title, this became film number 8 and 1/2.
The film is about a director, Guido Anselmi, under pressure from a film studio to complete a film in fulfillment of his contract. Sets are built, actors have been hired, and the cameras are about to roll, but the director (played by Marcello Mastroianni) has no idea what the movie he is making is going to be about. The stress begins manifesting itself in a series of a series of strange dreams and hallucinations, where Anselmi finds himself in a cemetary talking to his dead parents and is transported to a surreal version of his childhood home.
The plot parallels Fellini's experience making this film. He began filming with only one set built, the set of his his childhood home, and reportedly made the rest up as he went along. The result is a beautiful, confusing, autobiographical, self-referential, and very cool film.
I had no idea what the hell was going on the first time I saw this film. Lots of people I've talked to have reported the same experience. It was only with the help of a film prof and a few bong hits that I was really able to understand this film and its subtleties, and when I did it was a pretty transcendental experience.
Jogs to my memory courtesy of the IMDB.