st-shot Federico Fellini bombards the viewer with one surreal composition after the next in this relentlessly acerbic look at a modern day Decline of the Roman Empire. Dark, cynical, comic and lengthy (nearly 3 hours) maestro Fellini perhaps asks too much of the audience to hang with such an unctuous crowd for so long but his impeccable display of film language and imagery over the course of the film has more than enough visual awe to supplant the constant presence of indecorous bores. In La Dolce Vita we follow hack reporter Marcello (Marcello Mastroianni) who makes his living prowling the via Veneto seeking out gossip and scandal. Sometimes a small coterie of photogs follow him like vultures in search of disaster to pick over the victims. It's an unseemly business but it pays the bills for Marcello who once harbored higher aspirations as a writer. When he meets with a former mentor (Alain Cuny) his desire to be a serious writer becomes re-kindled if only briefly.As Marcello, Mastroianni is slimily outstanding as he snakes about for gossip and tomcat's non-stop, even after his live in attempts suicide. Still he manages to convey a good deal of his own vulnerability making a fool of himself twice while professing his love for a vivacious (Anita Ekberg) Hollywood star in The Trevi Fountain and to a wealthy nymphomaniac that was easily distracted. Misogynistic, abusive, corrupt; albeit with a brief tender familial attachment to his visiting father (Annabille Ninchi), his self hating surrender to the"sweet" life during the film's powerful finale makes no attempt to exonerate but it does allow for a moment's sympathy. La Dolce Vita's episodic structure covers a lot of ground as Fellini eviserates among others, decadent aristocracy, bloodsucking media, church, intellectual pomposity, commercialism and nostalgia for Fascism. Achieving it by way of minimal dialogue, clever juxtaposing and devastating caricature the film offers up as many bravura visuals as you will find in any of his other works. The problem is our hero is a heel and the crowd he runs with an unpleasant self absorbed lot one would have trouble spending ten minutes with, never mind three hours. La Dolce Vita is however a breathtaking ordeal.

peefyn Sadly my viewing of this ended up being divided over three different watching sessions, neither of them intentional. This is a long movie, and at times you can feel it, but it never stops paying of. It's structure, being divided into "days"/events, lends for it being easy to watch and follow. Some of the parts are more memorable than others (my favorite was the prophet), but they're all beautifully shot, and they all seem to follow some similar thematic lines.You follow the lifestyle of the rich and famous, and obviously it's not all good. But at the same time, it's not all bad, either. It's the life that these people live, and many of them want. But what their lives actually look like, depends on who is looking. And the lifestyle the live is not separate to the fact that they are being observed. At least these were the thoughts I got on my first watch through, though they might be influenced by the way the society has developed since this movie came out.

elkabousmehdi ***Spoilers Alert*** I''m enchanted and more than happy to watch one of Federico fellini's masterpiece, It was a film of 3hours that for me has never preached, It was a movie striving to find a sense to human life as long as the minutes proceeded. The era in which the movie was shot was in Italy (Europe) Post-war, tracing painstakingly nonsense of a decadent life. At the beginning of the movie there was a helicopter flying out high carrying a statue of Jesus, in which the semi-naked girls reacted once they saw it by saying ''look look it's Jesus'' .Fellini is certainly subtle, but we can infer that Marcelo presence high on the helicopter was considered as a form of highness considered to be valuable and appreciated in the naïve and materialistic eyes of his friends. Fellini is this movie breaks the rules of conventional narrative style, the film was told over Seven Days, the story follows a suave, ostensibly charming Journalist of the right-wing party tabloid, through his frantic yet boring nightlife. He is the epitome that Fellini chose to depict the meaninglessness of a post-war Italy, that have succumbed into social chit-chat cafés and hectic boredom between the new rich and old aristocrat, prostitute, to single out the spiritual crisis that the society is suffering from despite all the superficialities that is shown off. Marcelo suffers from it as he goes from his faithful Emma that wants to have a stable life with him, to the American superstar Sylvia that has nothing but fame and plastic beauty to attract the attention of self-exhibitionist society. Marcelo realizes that his life is vapid and it lacks meaning ,that was his inspiration from his friend Steirein that he admired for the stability and he has a family , two kids, he organizes intellectual meetings with his friend. The latter poignantly said '' Sometimes at night the darkness and silence weighs upon me. Peace frightens me; perhaps I fear it most of all. I feel it is only a facade hiding the face of hell. I think, 'What is in store for my children tomorrow?' 'The world will be wonderful', they say. But from whose viewpoint? If one phone call could announce the end of everything? We need to live in a state of suspended animation like a work of art, in a state of enchantment. We have to succeed in loving so greatly that we live outside of time, detached....detached. Steirn on the contrary has a family, money, success, stability but still is trapped in the same turmoil as Marceliono. Thus the latter couldn't believe it when he knew about Steirn killed his two kids and then himself, therefore it affected him so much that he decided to Instead of moving from journalism to the higher realm of writing he contemplated, he sells out to become a public relations hack, a drunk, a decadent party boy, now within the milieu that he previously saw as the outsider, the reporter observing. He just couldn't settle himself down and think about; he nevertheless carried and continues with his glamorous but hollow life style. The film moved from the cabaret dancing and glamour celebrations to a somber dawn of day, the lights were dull, that Fellini hardly gives morning events much importance. His father would push us to think that he'll brings us some family feeling throughout his presence. This wasn't the case as his father easily plunged in the bitter sweetness of that exhibitionism night life, but it was ultimately his stamina that didn't afford him to. The film spans an era that seems not that new for us (now), it's a movie that struck me with its vividness and it still grows with time, that's one of the major marks of a truly great work of art. People don't believe in La dolce vita, they just join each other in a social-spectacular self-esteem, which is the symbol of decayed society. Something that society has built to undermine its own proper values. Marcelo our protagonist in la dolce greatly embodied all the questions that occurred in Fellini's mind, He was carried away by the greed and glamour and fictive-sophistication. He is the wasted-intellect in the middle of a boring yet spectacular irresponsible society. One of the marvelous scenes in La dolce vita is the orgy party, where there was different people from different ranks and stances in society, they tried to enjoy themselves, but none of that could happen, wherein our drunkard protagonist indulged himself in a series of disrespectful behavior towards the girls that nothing sensual nor affectionate could be felt from. Fellini juxtaposed the opening with a great final sequence, after the nasty party, the revelers poured out onto the beach at dawn, where a group of fishermen captured a dead big ugly mysterious Fish. At the same time an innocent young girl whom Marcelo had met early in the film catches his eye, she started to wave and mimicking to him to come to have a walk with her but Marcello either doesn't understand or refuses to understand. And if he did make contact to her he may have corrupted her too. This was an end from innocent eyes, an end asking for question to be asked, an end that is asking for honesty and true emotions, an end that has left us nevertheless somewhat clueless about what really Fellini wanted to entail by it. I'm leaving out so much more, including Marcello's relationships with his suicidal fiancée and his strangely devoted relationship to his father, each of which only further underline Marcello's emptiness. This films is one that will need more than just one viewing to fully grasp its meaning, it'll keep dazzling you every time you watch it.

Yulia Ivanova this movie floats like water, smooth and gentle. and magnificent! every frame is a spectacular shot in itself, you cannot simply stop admiring the beauty of the cinematography, the costumes, the interiors and, of course, the women.I watched "The great beauty" by Sorrentino before this one and it is very clear to me now where the inspiration for "La Grande Belleza" had come from. very similar decadent spirit, conversations and the main lonely character always surrounded by people.you could start this movie from any second and watch just 5 minutes of it to get its spirit and greatness. 3 hours go by and you move along with the main character through restaurants and parties, and people and time flies unnoticed. naturally, all the characters are interesting and beautiful, as are all the actors.a must-see for anyone who loves cinema.