Summary
La Dolce Vita follows Marcello Rubini, a journalist living in Rome, through a week of his life.
My Thoughts
For a cinephile, I’m not incredibly familiar with the work of Fellini, and that is somewhat of a travesty. I had done a little bit of reading about his films and figured this was probably the best place to start. As the film ended, I stayed silent, still entranced by what I’d just watched. Fellini is often mentioned as one of the greatest directors of all time, and this film is a prime example of why that is true. This movie is a gorgeous love letter to Rome, rich with culture, music and art, but it’s more than that, it’s a scathing look at the lifestyles of the rich and famous, and how utterly unfulfilling having everything you want can be.
(SOME SPOILERS IN THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH)
Marcello Rubini (Marcello Mastoianni, “8 ½”) is a reporter living in Rome. He dines with the most famous actresses, he attends parties with royalty, he can seduce anyone he pleases; to the outside observer, his life is perfect. We follow him as he covers stories, argues with his on-again-off-again girlfriend, has dinner with his father, struggles to write, flirts with women, and attends party after party after party; there’s always something new and exciting to do.
(SPOILERS END)
Some epics feel their length; this one did not. The pacing for this film was incredible; scenes flowed from one to the next without pausing to take a breath. The film moved as fluidly as the dancers in parties and nightclubs Marcello frequents. I honestly think that is what’s most impressive about this movie; for me, it felt much shorter than it actually is because everything that happened was totally engaging.
The cinematography is absolutely spellbinding. Things are flashy and quick. Camera moves and cuts happen all the time, making the viewer feel almost breathless. It helps that the setting is so gorgeous too, and Fellini uses that to his every advantage. Almost every shot has a glimpse of history and culture; every shot is rich with life. His frames are almost always heavily populated too, making the scenes feel even more hectic. People run across the screen, pass behind the protagonists, and weave in and out of them. It’s chaotic, dynamic, and interesting.
The writing is what really makes this film stand out though. There is so much going on throughout this film. It’s such a great character study of Marcello, but there’s so much symbolism behind it all as well. For a long time, the movie seems to move aimlessly through the parties, much like Marcello himself. But then, thin threads from all the events that have happened start to come together to form a kind of tapestry. Characters harmonize with each other’s actions, pledging their love while betraying each other simultaneously. It’s beautifully poetic. The scene when Marcello and his father go out to dinner, and Marcello realizes that his father is just like him, sort of terrifies him, but never enough to make him change. Marcello himself isn’t all that likeable of a character. He has charisma, but he’s sleazy and womanizing, he doesn’t care about true love, he’s only in it for a quick fix; he’s addicted to the lifestyle, and he knows it.
(SPOILERS)
Near the end of this movie, when Marcello is drunk at the last party, he becomes a character that is even less likeable than he was during the rest of the film, loudly proclaiming that one of the guests should have sex with someone. As he leaves the party to go to the beach, he sees a young woman from earlier. She waves for him to come across to him, but he waves her away and turns back to the party lifestyle. This kind of ending was rather bleak, but honestly, I think it makes it that much more truthful. That kind of lifestyle has a certain allure, and once one gets sucked into it, it becomes harder and harder to get out. The ending, while somewhat sad, makes a lot of sense for Marcello’s character, and it becomes a sort of final warning for the viewer before the credits start.
(SPOILERS END)
Verdict
I loved this movie. It’s chaotic and beautiful and full of crazy, wonderful characters. It’s a movie that has sparked new interest in Fellini, and Italian films in general. If you consider yourself a cinephile, then this should be on your list of things to see.
End Note: My interest for this movie was piqued after seeing Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Great Beauty” (2013), which was one of the best movies I’ve watched this year. When reading about “The Great Beauty”, I saw a ton of comparisons between that film and “La Dolce Vita”, and after watching this it’s easy to see why. Both films follow writers living in Rome; both have to do with a crisis of identity, the Roman parties, the alluring yet unfulfilling false promises of a promiscuous lifestyle, and both are shot in ways that feel hectic and chaotic at moments, and peaceful and serene at others. If you like this, and you haven’t checked out Sorrentino’s work, I highly recommend it.
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