Fellini: I'm a Born Liar expertly judged and beautifully made document. Fellini's eloquent descriptions of his own development and working processes reveal extraordinary insight, not only into film-making, but into art and artists across all disciplinary boundaries". S. F. Said of "The Telegraph" (London) wrote: "For sheer entertainment value, "Fellini: I'm A Born Liar" is as good as any fiction. The lengthy, probing interview in which Fellini is sometimes contradictory, sometimes self-deceiving, is always entertaining. This is neatly played off against the recollections of collaborators, including Terence Stamp and Donald Sutherland, which are alternately affectionate and appalled." In France, it was acclaimed in major magazines
Federico Fellini Screened at the 13th Venice International Film Festival, it was razzed by critics in "the atmosphere of a soccer match”. One reviewer declared that Fellini had “not the slightest aptitude for cinema direction". In 1953, "I Vitelloni" found favour with the critics and public. Winning the Silver Lion Award in Venice, it secured Fellini his first international distributor. Fellini directed "La Strada" based on a script completed in 1952 with Pinelli and Flaiano. During the last three weeks of shooting, Fellini experienced the first signs of severe clinical depression. Aided by his wife, he undertook a brief period of therapy