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**** “Juliet of the Spirits.”

International Filmforum. $79.95. 1965.

An extraordinary melange of fantastic sights and tinkly carnival-bordello sounds, this 1965 Federico Fellini film--his first color feature--purports to give us the inner life of an Italian upper-class housewife (Giulietta Masina) in crisis. Over several days, she learns of her husband’s infidelity, discovers a kind of psychic crack that propels her into visions of the past, and is tempted by the flamboyant hedonism of her next-door neighbor (Sandra Milo). Is Fellini once again casting off the shackles of a Catholic childhood, embracing the modern world--but finding it shallow, gaudy, unsatisfying? Has Juliet been cheated by script as well as husband? Never mind. Collaborators Nino Rota (music), Gianni De Venanzo (camera) and Piero Gherardi (art design) are at their absolute peak here. If this film is really all surface, few films have ever had more unique, fascinating and beguiling surfaces. (Wide screen, semi-letterbox, subtitles.)