La Dolce Vita

LA DOLCE VITA (MOVIE)
Koch-Lorber Films

Original release: February 5th, 1960
Running time: 174 minutes

Country of origin: Italy, France
Original language: Various

Director: Federico Fellini
Writers: Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli, Brunello Rondi, Pier Paolo Pasolini

Cast: Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg

On our recent trip to Rome we went to the Trevi Fountain. Unlike the evocative scene in Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, the fountain wasn’t deserted and mysterious. It was instead surrounded by hundreds of tourists, as well as kiosks hawking plastic, miniature versions of Bernini’s sculptures. There was something disorienting about it, and I barely remember taking in the experience of the fountain itself, but it was nevertheless its own kind of wonderful; a crowd of people, teeming with life, energy, and happiness. And anyway, there’s always the movie—the dreamlike image of Anita Ekberg walking in the fountain wearing a black dress, with the water cascading over her.

In the film, the protagonist Marcello follows the character of Sylvia into the fountain, desiring her. But they never even kiss—they come close, but they don’t connect, the water stops and they venture out into the dawn without understanding what their experience has been about–the same way we often wake up from a dream that feels unfinished. We’re left wondering what it was which seemed so potent even moments before.

La Dolce Vita is broken up into seven episodes that take place over seven nights; each episode ends in the early morning, with an unsuccessful attempt to make sense of the night before. One could say that the film is essentially seven dreams, to be interpreted by the viewer.
Fellini’s films often evoke the unconscious—dreamlike images that resonate with the power of archetypes. I’ve always loved Fellini, who said about his films:

His films offer a real sense of this search, and the heart behind it. His images evoke the emotions of longing and introspection and his movies draw no distinction between high and low culture. His characters often are those that we judge, ignore or discard. He examines the pursuit of love, and also the search for meaning. Watching them provides a sense of catharsis–I feel more human and more attuned to the world around me after one of his movies.

If we watch La Dolce Vita, 8 ½, and Juliet Of The Spirits in succession, we can see his “searching” very clearly—characters look for an answer, and the answer is finally to accept the variety of life without resisting its difficulty. Instead they move forward, embracing the totality of experience. Fellini also said,

But his films are also about looking back; the puzzling through of the factors that have led to our present conditioning, our inability to take in the present. Elsewhere he said,

In other words, our major obstacle to living in the present is some “ideal” that’s been suggested to us as to where we should be as opposed to where we are. It’s an insidious enemy—this thought that where we are presently is not good enough. Robert Johnson and Jerry M. Ruhl write in their book Contentment:

The Trevi Fountain scene from La Dolce Vita has frequently been the inspiration for advertising campaigns. Like the character of Marcello, we’re encouraged to want to climb in to the fountain with the model.

But it needn’t be this way. In any moment, we have the choice to embrace what’s happening to us right now as an avenue to a deeper self-awareness. The many dreamlike images from Fellini’s films have inspired me in my own work. His movies create no distinction between reality and dreams, between high and low, between the beautiful and the ugly, the pious and profane. Fellini’s films appeal to me partly because of the way they turn the mundane into poetry. They capture the fine line between joy and despair.

He never judges his characters for the decisions they make, nor does he try to suggest that their problems are resolved. Instead his movies portray the inner images that are inspired by their conflicts and the dilemmas of the external world. He looks at reality, even its ugly parts, but then creates beauty in fantasy and imagination. His characters are presented with a choice of how to view their circumstances and a choice of how to continue. As one character says to Guido in 8 ½: “…You’re free but you must learn to choose. You don’t have much time. And you have to hurry.”

Norman Buckley

Norman is a television director and editor known for his work on shows such as Pretty Little Liars, Gossip Girl, The Lying Game, Melrose Place, 90210, Chuck and The OC. He currently teaches part-time at UCLA, in addition to editing and directing.

You can find more of Norman’s work at his website and blog, and he’s on Twitter too – @norbuck.

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