Wrote 11 pages of Book 8 today. I've moved away from the recaps and on to the story proper, which is more enjoyable. I'm also able to do more dialogue scenes now, which is probably my favourite part of the writing process -- I'm not that keen on long descriptive scenes, but I love putting characters together and letting them talk to each other!!

Saw a 1914 silent Italian film called "Cabiria" a few days ago. This was a hugely influential movie at the time -- an epic set in Ancient Rome, it featured some elaborate, gigantic sets, a convoluted storyline and an enormous cast. Given how young cinema still was, and the limits they had to work under back then, it's a technical marvel. Not as enjoyable now as it would have been then -- some old films just don't weather well, whereas others, like Chaplin's better films and Buster Keaton's, are just as much fun now as they were originally. The best scene was where 100 children were sacrificed in a statue of fire to the god Moloch -- coolio!!!!

Watched a documentary about Federico Fellini this evening, called "Fellini: I'm a born liar". Some interesting insights from Fellini himself (filmed before his death, obviously!) and some of the people who worked with him. Fellini's one of my favourite directors. Not all of his films worked for me -- some I absolutely hated! -- but his best works are cinematic classics, like "La Strada", "8 1/2", "La Dolce Vita" and "Amarcord". It's been a long time since I sat down and watched any of those -- seeing the documentary put me in the mood to reacquaint myself with them again, and soon!!!