La Dolce Vita (1960)
"La dolce vita" (original title)

A series of stories following a week in the life of a philandering paparazzo journalist living in Rome.

Director:

Federico Fellini

Writers:

Federico Fellini (story), Ennio Flaiano (story),

Stars:

Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée

Won 1 Oscar. Another 8 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marcello Mastroianni	...	Marcello Rubini
Anita Ekberg	...	Sylvia
Anouk Aimée	...	Maddalena (as Anouk Aimee)
Yvonne Furneaux	...	Emma
Magali Noël	...	Fanny (as Magali Noel)
Alain Cuny	...	Steiner
Annibale Ninchi	...	Il padre di Marcello
Walter Santesso	...	Paparazzo
Valeria Ciangottini	...	Paola
Riccardo Garrone	...	Riccardo
Ida Galli	...	Debuttante dell'anno
Audrey McDonald	...	Jane (as Audey McDonald)
Polidor	...	Pagliaccio
Alain Dijon	...	Frankie Stout
Enzo Cerusico	...	Fotografo

Storyline

Journalist and man-about-town Marcello struggles to find his place in the world, torn between the allure of Rome's elite social scene and the stifling domesticity offered by his girlfriend, all the while searching for a way to become a serious writer.

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Plot Keywords:

journalist | writer | prostitute | party | gossip columnist | 

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Taglines:

The world's most talked about movie today!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian English French German

Release Date:

19 April 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Sweet Life

Filming Locations:

Bassano Romano, Viterbo, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Gross:

$19,516,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Riama Film, Gray-Film, Pathé Consortium Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

174 min 177 min (premiere) 165 min (re-release) 180 min (premiere)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Producer Dino De Laurentiis left the project when director Federico Fellini refused to cast Paul Newman in the lead.

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Goofs

When Marcello is typewriting in a restaurant on the beach and talking to the blonde young girl, the bar of the typewriter is centered on the machine. In the next take, it is displaced to the left of the typewriter.

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Quotes

Marcello Rubini: You are the first woman on the first day of creation. You are mother, sister, lover, friend, angel, devil, earth, home.

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Connections

Referenced in Taxi für eine Leiche (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Patricia"
Performed by Perez Prado

User Reviews

my favorite fellini -

I first saw this movie probably over 25 years ago when I was quite a bit younger. At that point I enjoyed it for its party scenes, sense of joy and life and vitality and....Marcello Mastroianni. Now that I'm older myself and have just recently seen the movie again, I find that I have a much deeper understanding of it. Maybe it takes some age to find some meaning. In a nutshell, Marcello is at a crossroads in his life, he's unable to settle down or move foreward into any direction - he's a diletante with aspirations but no real goals. He's wrapped up in himself and in projecting rather dreamy ideals onto other people. But as he keeps projecting on to others he comes to find in each situation that he doesn't really know the person and they are a mystery and probably a disappointment to him. certainly steiner is the biggest disappointment and disillusions him to a degree that he is apparently lost to a life of corruption and decadence as a result. but it's not that these people are difficult to understand to someone other than marcello - i think we can see that anita ekberg's character really is just a big good-natured blond and not the mysterious goddess marcello makes her out to be; his father is again - the typical traveling salesman and perhaps not the paternal figure that marcello would like him to be. his amour maddelena lives up to her name even as marcello starts believing himself in love with her - he's literally seduced by nothing more than an image he creates in his own mind. his friend steiner seems to have it all to marcello and to be the renaissance man that he would like to be - but, of course, he is dissatisfied and disturbed and we see what the end is. the only one whom marcello forms a somewhat realistic connection with is his girlfriend whom he treats badly and neglects despite her obvious love for him. he refuses to actually work on the one relationship that he could actually succeed at - he would rather dream about possibilities than actualize something.

marcello cannot communicate with others because he cannot see them as the people they really are - he just sees them as projections of his own needs, aspirations, desires and goals. when he finds out what they're really like, he either turns away or falls apart. this is an outstanding movie - 10 out of 10 and beautifully photographed. if you don't get it now, try again in 10 years - it will wait for you to catch up.