Rating: 
Summary: The most "Felliniesque" of Fellini films--& the most moving
Review: Giulietta is a wealthy, mousy Roman housewife who lives on the margins of her own supposed milieu. Dominated by her beautiful, haughty mother (who can barely tolerate her) and her tall and glamorous sisters, patronized by her rich ding-a-ling friends mostly because of her sympathetic nature (but secretly held in contempt by them for her lack of beauty), Giulietta hides instead in her perfect house with her servants--the only people she can really call her friends--and in her fantasies of her marriage to her jetsetting husband, who seems never to be around. As Giulietta comes to suspect what everyone else has known for years--that he is cheating in her--she simultaneously begins to be visited by spirits who seem to have something to tell her. But as she learns more of her husband's infidelities, and comes to examine the emptiness of her own life, Giulietta's spirits seem less like actual supernatural presences and more like manifestations of a descent into madness.This is by no means Fellini's "best" film, but it is the one most people think of when they use the adjective "Felliniesque." The fantasy sequences, the striking use of color (particularly orange--this was his first color film, and he really went to town), the decadent Sixties fashions, and the gorgeous stauesque women who seem to have invaded from outer space: they're all here, and many of the sequences in this film have been parodied again and again. Its imitations come for a good reason: the film is utterly absolutely unforgettable. There are sequences in it that are as fine or as memorable as anything Fellini has ever done--particularly the great lawn party sequence, where Giulietta finally breaks down. There are many things wrong with the film: the script doesn't make a whole lot of sense at times, and the fantasy sequences seem less like something Giulietta would imagine and more like Fellini's usual obsessions (statuesque women, the circus, etc.). And as superbly icy as Caterina Boratto is as Giulietta's mother ("Nice kimono," she sneers at her daughter at the lawn party), did he really have to cast actresses twice as tall as his Giulietta to be her mother and sisters? (Even if we are to accept that most of the movie is from her point of view, it still stretches belief.) What makes it all work so brilliantly in the end, though, is the director's sense of filmic narrative drive (beautifully orchestrated to Nino Rota's famous score) and the performance of the lead actress, Giulietta Masina, who makes it all really matter. Although Masina has not been as praised for this role as much as for her work in CABIRIA and LA STRADA, her work here is every bit as fine, and perhaps better for its greater subtlety. Watch her expression the first time she sees one of her visions after she closes her eyes on the beach--or her astounding range in the lawn party sequence as she segues from forced cheerfulness to utter helplessness to rage, and then finally to despair. (When she finally loses it at her guests and screams at them, it's hard to say what is more memorable: her moment of fury or her terrifyingly lost expression when she realizes they haven't even noticed). Although you really should see this on the big screen (and on as clear a print as possible), this is a film every student of film should see.
Rating: 
Summary: The 32 pack of crayons.
Review: Having never seen any of Fellini's films I didn't know what to expect from this. I don't have much to say on the themes presented in this film because I am not going to pretend to understand them. However I don't think understanding is the point. The best thing about this film is that Fellini realized (much unlike 99.9 percent of film-makers working today) that he was working with a color palette. It's just a dazzling display of brilliant images that get stranger as the film progresses.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Film, Fair Fellini
Review: How can one resist the smile and acting of Giulietta Masina together with the imagination of her husband/director Federico Fellini? If you have never seen this team in action, I suggest you begin with "La Strada," and "Nights of Cabiria" before diving into the more surreal worlds of this film, "8 1/2" or even "La Dolce Vita."
Not lacking in several of the thematic and cinematic Fellini trademarks such as a creepy, confused lead male; the circus; the road/mind trip; the spirituality vs. religion strain; and the huge heart of teeny-weeny Masina, "Juliet Of The Spirits" will set you thinking and reaching for the rewind button on your VCR.
Is this a good first choice for Fellini virgins? I'd say not, as other films (mentioned above) can warm you up to the Fellini style while the pathos is also better presented and sustained elsewhere.
If you'd genuinely like to have your heart broken, see two of the three best films ever acted/presented: "La Strada" and "Nights of Cabiria."
Rating: 
Summary: So Disappointed! DVD version
Review: How could they leave out one of the MOST IMPORTANT DVD options?? This DVD is not DUBBED in English!! I have a dubbed VHS copy of this movie from TV. It's wonderful!! 'Black Orpheus','Das Boot", "Seven Beauties", etc. can be heard in their native tongues & English. To bad:-(
Rating: 
Summary: good picture quality, terrible sound!
Review: I buy the Criterion's DVD of "Giulietta degli spiriti". Fantastic colors, no cuts, finally a good restoration of this famous movie. But the sound! The sound in this movie it is very important, because it supports many of the "sensations" given by the pictures. The sound was totally not restorad, it was simply cleaned, and it is MONO too... I have an old italian (6 years old) VHS tape of this film, but it is in full stero hi fi and it sounds much better than the DVD. In some parts of the movie, especially where the sound is high, the sound turn to a "noise", obbliging to "turn down" the volume knob. The original italian language seems to come from a telefon unit... Why they did not restore the sound? I dont really understand. Was it so heavy to elaborate stero digital sound? My opinion: fantastic DVD pictures with old 8 tracks sound. Ciao from Southern Switzerland.
Rating:
Summary: Another Swedish opinion!
Review: I just happened to read a review of this DVD written by a Swedish viewer! He strongly adviced people not to buy it because it is cut by ten minutes! Really? Did he see it in a cinema in Italy way back in the sixties at a preview screening? I saw it on a Swedish screen in February of 1966, and it's running time was exactly the same as Image's DVD! (I just checked with a reliable fact file; the length of the print was 3.750 meters.)Maybe Fellini had a first cut that was even longer, but the DVD is a rather good presentation of the way people saw this masterpiece in theatres. Of course, the colors could be stronger in some scenes, and the sound is often a strain on the ears - but how many Italian films from this era have decent soundtracks? So my advice is to buy this DVD without hesitation if you have fond memories of this film. And if you love the art of filmmaking, it's a must have in any collection!
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Transfer...........
Review: I like 'Juliet of the Spirits' every bit as much as 8 1/2 (is this blasphemous?). It is truly a unique experience and one that proves Fellini and Gianni di Venanzo (director of photography) are equally at home shooting in color as they are in black and white.
The film also raises a lot of questions (like every great film). What are the spirits? Did Giulietta create them? Is it her unconcious mind? Is she simply going crazy? When things go wrong in a relationship do we try to slip into the world of imagination in order to make up for a love that isn't real? What is reality in this film?
Anyway, this is really one of the most visually stunning movies you will ever see - especially as criterion has restored it - a must see.
Rating:
Summary: Lovely, witty and colorful
Review: I love Fellini, and this one is definately one of the magical movies of the genious...Enchanting with the colors used, implications of those colors, the embedded passion throughout the movie, its like a realistic fairytale. If you wonder how can THAT be, you better watch the film and see it for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful in any format
Review: i really love this film (it's pointless to argue whether or not it's fellini's best), and it's a nice complement to the recently rereleased "8 1/2": in that film an alienated male protagonist discovers his deep connection to other people, while in "juliet" a housebound female discovers her uniqueness, and separateness from other people. masina is splendid in the title role, attractive yet mousy, yielding yet strong, and she captures the stages of disillusionment, denial, pain, wandering and final clarity with incredible directness. her final liberation, as she walks alone out of her prim garden and into a stately mysterious forest, is a beautiful affirmation. this is also a film where fellini's elliptical, dreamlike techniques work extremely well to increase rather than diffuse the mood of tension and pain. the ample sandra milo is amusingly sexy as the free spirited neighbor, and some of the cut footage mentioned by other viewers include her "over the top" costume scenes. i hope the new theatrical release restores the original version (which i saw as a teenager in the late '60s), as this often precedes an authoritative dvd release. but despite the cuts and the annoying white on white subtitles, this is a film to treasure in any format you can find it.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful in any format
Review: i really love this film (it's pointless to argue whether or not it's fellini's best), and it's a nice complement to the recently rereleased "8 1/2": in that film an alienated male protagonist discovers his deep connection to other people, while in "juliet" a housebound female discovers her uniqueness, and separateness from other people. masina is splendid in the title role, attractive yet mousy, yielding yet strong, and she captures the stages of disillusionment, denial, pain, wandering and final clarity with incredible directness. her final liberation, as she walks alone out of her prim garden and into a stately mysterious forest, is a beautiful affirmation. this is also a film where fellini's elliptical, dreamlike techniques work extremely well to increase rather than diffuse the mood of tension and pain. the ample sandra milo is amusingly sexy as the free spirited neighbor, and some of the cut footage mentioned by other viewers include her "over the top" costume scenes. i hope the new theatrical release restores the original version (which i saw as a teenager in the late '60s), as this often precedes an authoritative dvd release. but despite the cuts and the annoying white on white subtitles, this is a film to treasure in any format you can find it.
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