LA DOLCE VITA (1960)

This movie by the celebrated Italian directior Federico Fellini (1920-1993) was very controversial in its' time, has been celebrated as a deep philosophical meditation on the meaning of life, and gave us the term paparazzi.

La Dolce Vita is translated as "The Sweet Life" or "The Good Life."  The film has no traditional plot, but follows Marcello Rubini (Marcello Mastroianni), a reporter for a gossip tabloid, through seven loosely related episodes.  Each episode follows Marcello through a night and into the morning.

According to the Wikipedia article "Marcello is a journalist in Rome during the late 1950s who covers tabloid news of movie stars, religious visions and the self-indulgent aristocracy while searching for a more meaningful way of life.  Precisely, Marcello faces the existential struggle of having to choose between two lifestyles, namely depicted by journalism and literature.  Indeed, Marcello on the one hand leads a lifestyle of excess, of fame and pleasure amongst Rome's thriving popular culture.  Thereby, depicting the confusion and frequency with which Marcello gets distracted by women and power.  On the other, a more sensitive Marcello aspires of becoming a writer, of leading an intellectual's life amongst the elites, the poets, writers and philosphers of the time.  In the end, Marcello chooses neither journalism, nor literature.  Thematically, however, he's opted for the life of excess and popularity by officially becoming a publicity agent."

Very controversial upon its' first release, the film was condemned by the Vatican in 1960.  The film was banned in Spain until after the death of Francisco Franco in 1975.  Watching the movie in 2015, its hard to see what the big deal was.  There's no actual nudity, and the sex is only suggested, not shown.  It's easy to see, though, that the movie was seen as promoting a hedonistic lifestyle and mocking the Catholic Church.

Marcello lives with a women (Yvonne Furneaux) to whom he is not married and he refuses to make a commitment and continues to see other women, leading her to attempt suicide.  Marcello takes a rich noblewoman (Anouk Aimee) to the sleazy apartment of a prostitute and sleeps with her in the prostitute's bedroom.  Then there's the famous scene where Marcello wades into the Trevi Fountain in Rome with Anita Ekberg.  Anita Ekberg plays an American starlet (a la Marilyn Monroe or Jayne Mansfield) who is all good times and jiggle and is followed everywhere she goes by the Paparazzi.

This film is the first to depict the hordes of photographers who hound celebrities.  Marcello's friend is one of these independent photo journalists and the character's name is Paparazzo.  Hence, the plural form, Paparazzi.

Marcello Mastroianni and Federico Fellini

There is all kinds of analysis of the structure and meaning of La Dolce Vita and it "remains a classic and one of the most critically acclaimed films of all time."

Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg in the Trevi Fountain

Just to sit down and watch La Dolce Vita for enjoyment without analyzing it, it's not a bad movie. The film is well shot and well acted.  I'm not sure that all the deeper levels of meaning come through upon one superficial viewing, but it's a lot more enjoyable than some other art films that I've seen.  La Dolce Vita doesn't hit the viewer over the head with philosophy like Bergman's The Seventh Seal, for instance.  There is a good bit of tragedy in Marcello's seven days and seven nights which should cause reflection from the viewer.   Emma, Marcello's live in girlfriend tries to commit suicide because of Marcello's neglect of her.  Then a sick child which has been brought the to the site of an alleged apparition of the Virgin Mary dies in the middle of the crowd.  Marcello's friend, Steiner, a prominent public intellectual, kills his two children and then kills himself because he can't deal with the tragedy of the human condition divorced from traditional religion.

La Dolce Vita has been ranked as the 6th Greatest Movie of all time by Entertainment Weekly and number eleven in Empire magazine's list of the 100 Best Films of World Cinema.  The Bad Catholic declares himself unworthy of ranking a film of this stature.  The critics and scholars say its one of the best films of all time and was written and directed by the Great Fellini.  FINIS.