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.

DIRECTED BY

Federico Fellini

COUNTRY

Italy / France

Filmography links and data courtesy of