The Film:
Federico Fellini was one of the most well known and most influential director's of the twentieth century. Best known for the likes of Satyricon (1969), Roma (1972) and Amarcord (1973), The White Sheik was only his second foray into movie directing after his 1950 film Lights Of Variety and his first solo attempt. Fellini's films became a great success due to his ability to use his own visions of society to use characters that were usually a bit off the mental radar. The White Sheik really is no different for using a characters mentality to portray a story in what can only be described as a surreal way, effecting everyone around that person. Originally known as Lo Sceicco Bianco, The White Sheik is an interesting start to his directing career, if only to see what his future films were to provide (albeit it this film is much lighter).
Ivan (Leopoldo Trieste) and Wanda Cavalli (Brunella Bovo) are newlyweds who have just arrived in Rome for their honeymoon. Wanda knows that she is close to the studio responsible for one of her favourite fictional characters, The White Sheik (played by Alberto Sordi), and instead of going for a hot bath, decides to venture to the studio to give the actor who plays the White Sheik, Fernando Rivoli, a drawing she has done. Before she knows it, she is whisked off to a film set some thirty minutes outside of Rome and eventually finds herself on a boat with Rivoli. Meanwhile, Ivan realises his new wife has gone missing and tells everyone asking for her that she is ill. He becomes more and more depressed as the day and night progresses but what will happen when the two are re-united?
The White Sheik is an interesting film with very good ideas, and you sometimes think that Wanda has actually gone into a dream sequence when really she hasn't, giving you a little surprise. This is worked very well, and the acting also shows promise, even if it isn't great. The score is charming but overshadows the characters on occasion, but this film definately comes recommended for Fellini films, though it should be noted that it isn't nearly as polished as his later efforts.
The DVD:
Video:
Before I go into detail about the video, let us remember that this film is over fifty years old so we know straight away it isn't going to be flawless and will probably contain a bit of grain. However, what I wasn't going to expect was the occasional jolt in the picture that on reflection looks as though one or two frames of the source print were damaged beyond repair. Sometimes the whites are too bright, particularly on skin tones and there are also a few moderate scratches. All in all, it is a reasonable print, though whether it could be improved upon remains to be seen.
Audio:
Optimum have given us the original Italian track which is in mono. Unfortunately, it is isn't without its problems and the films score can drown out the dialogue regularly (which isn't the biggest problem because it's in Italian with subtitles). Also the score can also come across as very muffled at times and unclear though what I was most disappointed with was the number of split second audio dropouts (I noted at least 4). Again, this is probably due to the source print and from reviews I've read the problems with both the picture and sound also exist on the Criterion release. The film also has optional English subtitles.
Extras:
We start off the extras with a featurette entitled Fellini's White Sheik and Other Stories. It features the author of the book I Fellini, Charlotte Chandler, and author of the book The Cinema Of Federico Fellini, Peter Bondanella as they tell us about how Fellini started his career in cartoons and how he became involved in becoming a director. They also talk about his wife Giulietta Masina who acted in several of his films. It runs for 16 minutes and 12 seconds.
Next up we have a Fellini's Collection At Lilly Library featurette which focuses on the Fellini manuscripts left to Indiana University. We get to have a look at some of these manuscripts as Peter Bondanella talks us through how they came to the university. Interesting but far too short at two minutes 47 seconds.
Interestingly, we next get Giulietta Masina's recipe for her Secret Spaghetti Sauce that she used to make her husband without ever telling him what was in it. The text recipe runs for one minute 51 seconds.
We finish off the extras with a photo gallery and filmographies for Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni.
