With a dream of making his mark, a young man left his seaside hometown of Rimini for Florence in 1938, and then moved to Rome, the city that held great fascination for him, the year after.
He enrolled in a law school to pursue a graduate course that he never completed. He was eventually drawn into the world of art and cinema, and became one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century.
The man was acclaimed Italian film director Federico Fellini, better known for his unique style of blending fantasy and baroque images.
In his early days in Rome, Fellini earned a living as a writer and caricaturist drawing cartoons and sketches. He also wrote scripts for radio shows and contributed to the famous satirical magazine "Marc' Aurelio".
Through his works, Fellini had a commendable influence in Italy's popular culture of that period. He made his first contribution to film by writing comic gags for Italian actor Aldo Fabrizi. In 1943, he married Italian actress Giulietta Masina, who later appeared in most of his movies.
His crucial break as a scriptwriter came in 1944 when he was asked to contribute to the script of "Città Aperta" (Open City), directed by Italian director Roberto Rosellini. The film's immense success made both Rosellini and Fellini popular at home and abroad. Hailed as a landmark neo-realist Italian movie after World War II, 'Open City' projected a melodramatic description of war-torn Rome. The film earned Fellini his first Oscar nomination in the category of scriptwriting.
But he had to wait for six more years for his first film as co-director.
The commercial studio company Lux, for which Fellini wrote scripts, handed him the chance to work in the movie 'Luci Del Varietà' (Variety Lights) as a co-director with Alberto Luttada. Though Fellini had to work with an experienced director of that time, he made his presence felt in the movie. Its plot was deeply influenced by Fellini's childhood fascination for vaudeville performers and circus. But it wasn't financially successful.
The setback could not deny Fellini his first film "Lo Sceicco Bianco" (The White Sheik) as an independent director in 1952. Based on the idea that Michelangelo Antonioni gave to the film's producer Carlo Ponti, the movie is a hilarious parody of 'Fotoromanzo', a true romance-type famous Italian magazine at that time. This movie was influenced by Fellini's personal vision of the world. Though the film turned out to be a financial failure, many film critics now recognise it as a comic masterpiece.
The financial failure of the first two movies had put Fellini's film career in jeopardy. But his third movie 'I Vitelloni', awarded the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, saved him from what would have been a sad end to his film career as a director. Set in Fellini's hometown of Rimini, this autobiographical movie reflects the complex relationship between five friends.
His fourth movie 'La Strada', regarded as one of his masterpieces, gave him an international breakthrough. It won an Oscar in the best foreign film category in 1954.
The film depicts the life of a poverty-stricken woman named Gelsomnia (played by Fellini's wife Giulietta Masina), sold to a brutish circus man Zampano (played by Anthony Quinn).
His next movie 'Il Bidone' (The Swindle) was not as successful as 'La Strada'. Taking a traditional Hollywood genre, Fellini added his own innovative style to 'Il Bidone'.
In 1957, he made 'Le Notti Di Cabiria' (Nights of Cabiria), starring Masina, that earned him his second Oscar in the best foreign film category.
Fellini again came under the spotlight with 'La Dolce Vita' in 1959, in which he projected the real face of contemporary Italian society. It won an Oscar as the best foreign film and was hailed by film critics around the world.
The movie was followed by his autobiographical masterpiece '8½' in which he concentrates on imagination and dream sequels. Some critics termed it a work of a director running out of ideas. But Fellini was absolutely sure what he was doing. He used surreal dream imagery and a blend of fantasy and reality without any differentiation in this film that won Oscar as best foreign language movie.
In 1965, Fellini made his first colour feature film 'Giulietta Degli Spiriti' (Juliet of the Spirits), regarded as a landmark feminist movie ahead of its time, portraying the psyche and identity crisis of a middle-aged and upper-class housewife Giulietta (played by Masina) in Italian society.
Fellini's next movie 'Satyricon', perhaps his most provocative film, goes several centuries back portraying the life of ancient Rome in the pre-Christian era. 'I am examining ancient Rome as if this were a documentary about the customs and habits of the Martians,' said Fellini in an interview in 1969. This fantasy film was criticised by many as his most decadent and undisciplined work.
Through his film 'Roma', released in 1972, Fellini paid homage to his adored city, and tried to explore Rome the way he had viewed it. The movie reflects Fellini's experience and memories about the 'Eternal city'.
The film was not a big success. But he once again gained international acclamation through his next film 'Amarcord' which is loosely based on the incidents he witnessed in his childhood days in Rimini. It earned him fourth Oscar as best foreign language film in 1974.
But Fellini failed to see success in his future films like Il Casanova di Fellini, Orchestra Rehearsal', 'City of Women', And the Ship Sails on", 'Ginger and Fred', and 'Intervista', which was a tribute to his studio 'Cinecitta'.
By the late 80s, Fellini found it difficult to get financial backing for his projects. 'La Voce della Luna' (1990), starring famous Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni, was his last film.
Fellini won an honourary Oscar in 1993 for his contributions to cinema. He suffered a massive stroke that year and died at the age of 73.
Like other filmmakers Fellini too has been criticised by many film critics, who have termed some of his works ambiguous, unplanned and merely autobiographical. They argue that Fellini, who played a key role in the development of neorealist films in post-World War Italy in 1940s, gradually shifted towards 'surrealism', violating the precepts of neo-realism.
But critics like Roger Ebert, who held Fellini in high esteem, have ruled out such claims as 'unrealistic' and 'inappropriate.'
"The conventional wisdom is that Federico Fellini went wrong when he abandoned realism for personal fantasy. According to this view "La Strada" (1954) was the high point of his career, and then he abandoned his neorealist roots. "La Dolce Vita" was bad enough, "8 1/2" (1963) was worse, and by the time he made "Juliet of the Spirits" (1965), he was completely off the rails. But this is completely wrong. What we think of as Felliniesque comes to full flower in "La Dolce Vita" and 8 ½," said Ebert in his review of '8 ½.'
He also mentioned that Fellini's earlier films have their Felliniesque charm weighted down by leftover obligations to neorealism.
Appreciating Fellini's works, film critic Stanley Kauffmann, who writes for the American journal The New Republic, said, "During his lifetime, many fine filmmakers blessed us with their art, but he was the only one who made us feel that each of his films, whatever its merits, was a present from a friend."
On Fellini's influence over world cinema, Peter Bondanella in his book The Films of Fellini, said the adjective 'Fellinian' became synonymous with any kind of extravagant, fanciful, even baroque image in cinema and in art in general. More than just a film director, Fellini had become synonymous in the popular imagination in Italy.
No matter what the critics say about Fellini, the legendary filmmaker will continue to have his influence on the world of cinema in the days to come.
Filmography
"Luci Del Varietà" (1950) Co-director
"Lo Sceicco bianco" (1951)
"I Vitelloni" (1953)
"La Strada" (1954)
"Il bidone" (1955)
"Le Notti di Cabiria" (1957)
"La Dolce Vita" (1960)
"8½" (1963)
"Giulietta degli Spiriti" (1965)
"Satyricon" (1969)
"Roma" (1972)
"Amarcord" (1973)
"Il Casanova di Federico Fellini" (1976)
"Prova d'orchestra" (1979)
"La città delle donne" (1980)
"Ginger and Fred" (1986)
"Intervista" (1987)
"La voce della luna" (1990)

Mahbub Morshed, sub-editor at The Daily Star, enjoys travelling, buying books and reading them.