Page "Federico Fellini" Paragraph 23

A major discovery for Fellini after his Italian neorealism period ( 1950 – 1959 ) was the work of Carl Jung.

After meeting Jungian psychoanalyst Dr. Ernst Bernhard in early 1960, he read Jung's autobiography, Memories, Dreams, Reflections ( 1963 ).

Bernhard also recommended that Fellini consult the I Ching and keep a record of his dreams.

What Fellini formerly accepted as " his extrasensory perceptions " were now interpreted as psychic manifestations of the unconscious.

Bernhard ’ s focus on Jungian depth psychology proved to be the single greatest influence on Fellini ’ s mature style and marked the turning point in his work from neorealism to filmmaking that was “ primarily oneiric ”.

As a consequence, Jung's seminal ideas on the anima and the animus, the role of archetypes and the collective unconscious directly influenced such films as 8½ ( 1963 ), Juliet of the Spirits ( 1965 ), Satyricon ( 1969 ), Casanova ( 1976 ), and City of Women ( 1980 ).