La Dolce Vita

La Dolce Vita is the outcome of a crossroads for Federico Fellini as Italian neo-realism influenced him prior making this film, Variety Lights (1950) and I Vitelloni (1953). After La Dolce Vita Fellini's creations became more extravagant and dreamlike as the films often became some sort of allegorical celebrations to mankind such as the autobiographical 8 ½ (1963) and dreamy Juliet of the Spirits (1965). This crossroad is heavily influenced by a search for something, maybe happiness, which is depicted through the main character, Marcello Rubini (Marcello Mastroianni), who drifts from day to day with no particular existential ambition.Marcello, a gossip columnist, works the upper society creating stories built on rumors supported by pictures taken by his friend and photographer, Paparazzo. A side note is that Paparazzo's name is the origin for the name of paparazzi that now stalks the famed and fortuned. Marcello's job has driven him to a soul search as he finds himself short of qualitative accomplishments and good deeds, which leads him in some sort of despair. The despair is augmented through Marcello's work that provides several opportunities to act upon his sinful desires. Marcello is led into a continuous negative cycle, as he does something good that is shortly followed by a sinful act. This is how Marcello searches for a meaning to his existence as it becomes painfully evident that he searches in all the wrong places as his desires leads him astray.At home Marcello has a heartbroken and suicidal fiancé that needs his love, but never fully receives it as he desires other beautiful women such as the voluptuous starlet Sylvia (Anita Ekberg) and the aristocratic beauty Maddalena (Anouk Aimée). Despite his desire for other women Marcello longs for the strong connection of a family as he envies his friend Steiner (Alain Cuny) and his seemingly perfect family. Marcello tries to seek redemption to his wrongdoings by nurturing his fiancé, yet restlessly he wonders what he might be missing. This leads him to continue to search for something to silence his internal desires, which seem infinite.Fellini displays his artistic brilliance as he displays Marcello's lost character through strong allegorical connotation with several different themes such as Catholic values, greed, desire, and existentialism. These themes are essential to the story as they reflect the identity of Marcello who, in essence, does not understand himself as he attempts to find an answer to life. Thus, Marcello's own confusion of self reflects his own dimwitted search for a meaning to his own life in places other than himself.Fellini directed a brilliant film with much to ponder and contemplate as most shots leave most of the story for the audience to reflect upon. For example, most scenes are left open ended such as when Marcello stays in a prostitute's apartment with Maddalena behind closed doors. The audience wants to think they know what happened, but they will never really know what happened behind the closed doors. The brilliance of La Dolce Vita lays in the clarity in which Fellini describes the ambiguous as the complete interpretation of the film is left to the audience. The result of the cinematic experience is an artistic experience that encourages thought and reflection upon life and self, which is nothing but brilliant.

I ordered the new Paramount blu-ray of La dolce vita on November 27, 2021, shortly after the release was announced. I received my copy on February 11, 2022, three days after the release date.I am not sure why I ordered it, because it uses the same mastering as the prior Criterion release, and it is minus the extras that come on that disc. The introduction by Martin Scorsese is nice but does not make a substitution of equal value. Prepared to berate myself for wasting money, I popped the disc in and found that the audio metrics were improved (important for Nino Rota's soundtrack) and that new Italian subtitles were now available. The option of subtitles in the same language is important to me, because, as a philologist I mainly watch foreign films to appreciate the languages. I am fluent in Italian, but I would rather not strain to hear the dialogue, particularly when it has been dubbed in and does not match how the lips are moving. So, with the picture quality basically identical, the Criterion has extra bonus materials, but the Paramount has improved soundtrack and Italian subtitles. Frankly, I rarely watch bonuses more than once, so the new disc is a big step up for me. Maybe it will be for you as well, if you too love the language of the music and the music of the language. Prima il linguaggio della musica, e poi la musica del linguaggio.

This Criterion blu ray release of Fellini's masterpiece is a real treat for fans; both the picture and sound qualities have been greatly enhanced providing a real feast for the senses. This film is full of metaphors and ironies beginning with the opening scene of a statue of Jesus "leaving" the city by helicopter as it turns out both literally and figuratively. We see the "sweet" lives of family man, Steiner, who has everything it seems and that of the celebrities that the protagonist, Marcello, closely follows for a living as a reporter and who himself is swept up in the trappings of the high life that causes him to constantly keep his fiancee at arm's length as she tirelessly tries to convince him to choose Steiner's version of the "sweet" life. This almost 3 hour film like any true classic film doesn't make you feel its length. The poignant scene at the end when a "monster" is discovered is my favourite when it appears the young guardian angel-like girl representing his conscience or last chance at making a choice motions towards him as if encouraging him to join her. Marcello realises there is a great gap keeping him apart from her as he has already irretrievably made his choice to join the "monsters"; he cannot hear or understand her anymore as he is too far gone. She then looks into the camera at us; what choice would we make? Brilliant! There are of course many other memorable scenes in between of "sweet " lives and the desperation of various characters trying to find this elusive goal or having found it are left wondering if that's all there is. As an indictment of the social and moral state of decline of Rome in the 1950s this film is a true masterpiece of storytelling and rightfully deserves its lofty standing on film critics' lists of best ever films and should be in any film buff's collection as it rewards repeated viewing.Highly recommended!

This is the movie that put Felline and his two lead actors on the worldwide map. It is groundbreaking.

Esta es, sin la menor duda, una verdadera obra maestra del maestro Federico Fellini. Ya la he visto varias veces, la primera vez fue en Santiago de Chile, poco después de haberse estrenado, y la última vez hace unos días en el blu-ray que les compre a ustedes

Das süße Leben der reichen Römer Ende der 1950er Jahre war öd und fad und vollkommen sinnfrei, scheint es. Drei Stunden braucht Fellini, um uns das in seinem Meisterwerk zu erzählen. Dass das nicht langweilig wird, liegt an den vielen überraschenden Wendungen und lustigen Szenen, darunter die, in der Anita Ekberg in den Trevi-Brunnen steigt. Die teilweise ausgefallenen Schauplätze wechseln ständig. Marcello Mastroianni spielt die Rolle seines Lebens: als Journalist, dessen rauschhaftes Leben zwischen Straßenflirt und allabendlichen Partys durch die existenziellen Fragen des Lebens gestört wird.Seinerzeit galt der Film als freizügig und vieles wirkte provokant. Es gehört eine gewisse Bereitschaft dazu, sich auf den ganzen Unfug des Fellini-Universums einzulassen. Und man sollte auch keinen tieferen Sinn suchen, viele Anspielungen betreffen Personen und Ereignisse der damaligen Zeit. Gedreht wurde in Rom, entsprechend sind zahlreiche bekannte Straßen und Plätze zu entdecken.Der Film auf der Blu-ray ist aufwändig und hervorragend restauriert.

This is a classic and all movie fans should have this movie in their library. The film has been optimized in BlueRay and work well.

GUCCIが出資した「山猫」などと同じくマーティンスコセッシ率いるFILM FOUNDATIONによる修復で、Blu-rayの画質は4Kテレビで観ても鮮明です。浜辺のラストシーンは今日まで観たどの映画よりも忘れがたく美しい。

una buena compra por ser un clásico del cine por a buen precio, si te gusta ver cine lo recomiendo