Friday, April 4, 2008

deus ex machina

Hey Everyone:

I'm on the mailing list for dictionary.com, so I get a word in the mail everyday. Look at today's offering:

deus ex machina \DAY-uhs-eks-MAH-kuh-nuh; -nah; -MAK-uh-nuh\, noun:

1. In ancient Greek and Roman drama, a god introduced by means of a crane to unravel and resolve the plot.
2. Any active agent who appears unexpectedly to solve an apparently insoluble difficulty.


Were you guys aware of this word/phrase? Were you aware that was what Fellini was showing in La Dolce Vida? I believe it's in one of the opening shots, right?

I'll always miss Fellini. He is one of the all-time greats for me. No one was like Fellini.

3 comments:

Erik said...

I'm familiar with that, yes. I once heard it in a film years ago and thought "gee, that sounds cool", but I didn't know what it meant at the time. So I looked it up.

What's your favorite Fellini? If I had to pick one, it would be Amarcord.

Erik said...

I have to add, that when I think of Fellini, I also think of Nino Rota. Most Americans might think of him regarding the Godfather theme, but he was Fellini's greatest asset, in my opinion.

FunkiFilmiGirl said...

Erik:

My fav Fellini is my first with him, Juliet of the Spirit. I remember just sitting there--truly agog, thinking to myself, "I have never seen anything like this on film before. I've never seen anything like this period!"

When I think of the neighbor lady biking through the woods with the white veil over her large brimmed hat . . . I still get the same feeling as I did that first time: complete wonder.

It's nothing small to give an adult that feeling.