La Dolce Vita (1960)

 

Everyone knows this film. Not everyone has seen it, though. Culturally speaking, this is one of those that is massively important for various reasons. It coined certain phrases still with us today and left the indelible image of Anita Ekberg frolicking in the Trevi Fountain (something which is forbidden, so don't do it, kids!). A lot of people would call this one flawless.

It isn't. Yes, heresy, I know. But the fact that this one also has its flaws doesn't detract from its importance. 

Marcello Mastroianni plays Marcello, a journalist for an undisclosed tabloid, who spends his days trying to gather some dirt on the rich and famous. He hangs around parties, drinks a lot at the clubs and has flings with various women in order for him to do his job. He actually wants to be a serious writer, but that doesn't pay the bills. He and his photographer friend Paparazzo (yes, that is where the term comes from) are good at their job, but Marcello both loves and hates it. His personal life is a bit of a mess. 

This film is divided into several tableaus if you like during one week of Marcellos life. He is blown away by the arrival of a filmstar (Ekberg), but she is broken in her own way and doesn't give in to his advances, which frustrates Marcello to no end. There's his on-and-off affair with the wealthy Maddalena, someone Marcello really likes, yet who only sees him as something to toy with. Marcello also has a girlfriend Emma, who might be a little too clingy yet who is probably the only one who actually loves him despite his douchy ways. 

Marcello looks up to Steiner, a cultured man who feels like the ideal that Marcello aspires to, but who will also be responsible for the biggest gutpunch in film history near the end, something that almost completely breaks Marcello. 

You'd also think that he would change his ways, but thankfully the film leaves that pretty open, even if you can easily imagine nothing truly changing in Marcellos life, because in spite of sometimes loathing his lifestyle, he can't seem to part from it because when he tries to, he is also miserable. 

'La Dolce Vita' is a pretty spot on observation into the human condition and Marcello is relatable, even if he is a bit of a prick. He got so caught up in this lifestyle that it shaped him into what he now is, even if he might have been a decent man somewhere along the line. But people are easily bedazzled by flashy stuff, which is very clear by the people Marcello meets and the scene concerning a supposed Maria sighting, where it is abundantly clear that the children are merely playing a game and fooling the adults, yet the adults are almost in a frenzy for a miracle.

Still seems pretty relatable.

But this film has some issues besides the unlikable main characters. It is exceedingly slow for one and in a film that already takes three hours, this sometimes makes it feel like five. It also doesn't help that the most engaging part (the one with Anita Ekberg) is already near the start and that the actual final scene where Marcello is piss drunk at a friend's house and feels like he's pissing on his 'friends' takes too long and doesn't really go anywhere. There are a lot of dead moments and maybe, just maybe, a shorter edit would have benefitted the film as a whole. 

Does this mean it isn't good? Heck no. These are minor things, as anyone with a love for cinema should see (or have seen) this film. There's a reason why this one is hailed as a classic in every sense of the word.