THE WHITE SHEIK

Director: Federico Fellini

1952, Italy, 86

Screenwriter: Screenplay by Fellini, Tuillio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano. Music by Nino Rota.

Cast: Alberto Sordi, Leopoldo Trieste, Brunella Bovo, Giulietta Masina.

 

“Real life is the life of dreams” – Federico Fellini. Lovers of Italian cinema: we invite you to a newly subtitled, sparkling 4K HD restoration of The White Sheik, to mark the centennial of both its director and its comically melancholy star, Alberto Sordi. A newlywed couple have their Roman honeymoon disrupted when the star–struck bride (Brunella Bovo) discovers where her idol, a photo comic strip actor known as The White Sheik (Alberto Sordi), is working. She impulsively follows his troupe to the seaside, leaving her nervous husband behind. Fellini’s irreplaceable style is already present: in the brass band playing on the beach, the entertainers’ bohemian extravagance, and the life-affirming dance of a prostitute in the village square (played by Fellini’s future wife, the beguiling Guillietta Masina,)

“Sheer comic joy…Fellini reveals himself as delighted by the human carnival on display in this comedy of the everyday absurd.” Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

“MY FAVORITE FELLINI MOVIE.” — ORSON WELLES