La Dolce Vita

"When my assistants and I attempted to create a story that would summarize and show the contradictions, insecurity, fatigue, absurdity, and unnaturalness of a certain lifestyle, as if hearing an otherworldly voice, I began to repeat to myself: no, you don't have to worry about creating a narrative, this film should not be a plot story.. Let's do better this way: put all the collected material together, talk frankly, share our thoughts, and recall what we read in newspapers and comics. Let's put all our notes and documents on the table in the most chaotic form."
— Federico Fellini

A surprisingly long, empty and boring movie. Perhaps at that time he was a reflection of the era, a breath of fresh air. But now, after watching it, I want to clear my head, because the disappointment of watching it is incredibly strong.

There were huge queues for La Dolce Vita, and the film itself became the highest-grossing in Fellini's filmography and one of the most commercially successful in the history of Italian cinema. A whole campaign was launched against the film, launched in Italy on the initiative of the Vatican, which was referred to as an "encroachment film." And while they were trying to cancel the movie in Fellini's homeland, he deservedly took the Palme d'Or and the Golden Chaplin abroad.

Using the example of Fellini's work, one can see the variability of the world. All Catholic and bourgeois figures applaud the director, enjoying the conditional trilogy about loneliness ("The Road", "Fraud", "Nights of Cabiria"). But the director is cursed when he suddenly decides to shift the focus from the poor to the story of the rich and their entertainment. The problems began even at the stage of the script, when Fellini tried to sneak into the high-class private parties, but he did not succeed. The director didn't give up and came up with his own fictional party with bourgeois revelations and courtesans.

Federico puts some of his personal traits, his innermost thoughts and feelings into the main character, the journalist Marcello. And it is this hero who becomes the viewer's guide to the world of high society. Marcello interviews celebrities, spends his evenings in expensive restaurants on Rome's most fashionable Via Veneto street, and attends private parties. And gradually he transforms from an observer journalist into the hero of his own reports.

Fellini knew he was playing with fire. But as a result, the fire turned into an advertising campaign, when something that they tried to ban eventually aroused even more viewer interest. From now on, it's a classic for all time.

The work should be able to cause shock, catharsis. It must be able to touch the living suffering of a person. The purpose of art is not to teach how to live. Art has never solved problems, it has created them. Art transforms a person, makes him ready for the perception of goodness, and releases spiritual energy. This is his high purpose.
Andrey Tarkovsky. Lectures on filmmaking

Sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, sometimes surreal and theatrical, the story is that even living a bohemian, beautiful life, seemingly without needing anything, people still remain unhappy. Everyone has their own tragedy, their own quest. There are many stories, vivid characters, and you can endlessly dig here, looking for possible causes and effects. There is a sad aftertaste at the end.
But what a beautiful picture, every frame is a masterpiece, every face is beautiful in its own way, so bright and chiseled! Stunning Silvia, who knows how to enjoy life in a childish way, unfortunately, would not become a standard in our time with her juicy forms)
Young Celentano - 😍😍😍
So far, I don't want to take each one apart, but just enjoy the visual and mood aftertaste.