Toby Dammit

Federico Fellini's 1968 film is the final part of the three-part anthology Spirits of the Dead, adapted very loosely from a story by Edgar Allan Poe. Toby Dammit, an alcoholic Shakespearean actor, comes to Rome to make a spaghetti western; his fee is a Ferrari, and to collect it he must endure an awards ceremony. Fellini turns television studios, awards ceremonies and journalists into a vision of hell: artificial sets, fire-coloured light and faces that look made of wax. The Devil appears as a small girl playing with a white ball. Terence Stamp's performance is at the centre. It runs forty minutes and is extremely dense. Who it's for: viewers who like Fellini and formal excess. Who it's not for: anyone wanting narrative, or who would rather not be caught unprepared by a shocking close.