Last night Dan and I rewatched the great Fellini classic La Dolce Vita. The visuals are stunning, but I admit to forgetting much of what happened in the film since the first time I watched it. It's not my favorite of the Fellini films in terms of what I "like", but I admire it. I must admit that I prefer Antonioni to Fellini, overall.On a shallow note, I don't think Anita Ekberg is that great looking (yes I am secure in myself). The reason is that for all the beautiful Swedish actresses I've seen in Bergman's films, perhaps I'm a bit spoiled. She also does not compare to Monica Vitti. She just has too much makeup on and her body is out of shape--lots of back fat. Her big boobs also don't help matters. She just looks very "large" in that photo.
Perhaps guys will think otherwise, but I still think I'm right. I know this is petty sounding, but that's what blogs are for. Marcello, however, is always nice eye candy.
This films take jabs on many things: shallowness (hey, go figure), celebrity, obsession, religion, etc.
Dan states in his review:
"Whatever the reality is, the fact is that there’s never been a better film about the anomy of the human condition- and it’s not just modernity under scrutiny, for clearly Fellini shows that the pilgrims at the Madonna sighting, are as lost as any of the modern glitterati, thus implying it is endemic to the human condition, and reflected in the very picaresque structure of the film. La Dolce Vita is one of the great works of art by one of the greatest artists of the last century, and in that statement, there’s not a hint of irony."
And just for some laughs, here is a very bad review (spelling errors included) of the film from some boob off Amazon.com:
This film is a mess. It doesn't even come close to his other films. It has a few moments but the overall tone of this film is very simular to that of a fart. I hate to bash Fellini because I do love his films. I have heard people say he's overrated. I could never understand why someone would say such a thing. Now I know why. Because they watched La Docle Vita and never bothered to watch any of his earlier films.
La Dolce Vita is an attempt at delivering the same message that Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Avventura did. I also despise L'Avventura. Antonioni was the worst thing that ever happend to Italian Cinema. I understand that later on in his career Fellini admired Antonioni's films. I think La Dolce Vita was the result of Fellini's admiration for Antonioni. I really wish Fellini spent more time admiring Pier Paulo Pasolini. Pasolini's flims blew Antonioni's pretentious crap away.
Oy! Can we be anymore wrong?
But here are some Marcello clips from various films:
