La Dolce Vita: The Greatest Film of All Time

“I wish that every young person with an interest in film could have had the same experience that I had back in those days; to be young, open to everything, and to walk into the theater and have your expectations not only met, but surpassed time and time again. We all had one film that was a turning point, a touchstone, and I suppose that Fellini’s 8½ was mine.”

–Martin Scorsese

Federico Fellini carves his greatest masterpiece from the vacuous characters devoid of moral fabric in this celebration of film. La Dolce Vita is about excess, wanton desire and un-fulfillment. No amount of money, fame and partners can satisfy Marcello Rubini’s hunger. On top of this he is weighed down by his emotionally needy girlfriend who is a complete bore. He is an outsider wanting in. He knows this, the celebrities he leeches on know this but it fuels their egos.

The beginning of the film has Marcello Rubini played by Marcello Mastroianni flying a helicopter following a statue of Jesus being carried by another helicopter. This overt symbolism is a bit over the top but powerful nonetheless. He is sidetracked by some sunbathing woman on a pool rooftop. They make small talk about the statue and he is on his way again. To him the statue is just as much a celebrity as the people he writes about in his columns.

What La Dolce Vita does so well is make something as stereotypically glamorous and alluring like fame, power and casual sex seem so depraved. Why is Marcello trapped? He has famous friends, disposable cash and drunken parties on end but he is lost. He is a chameleon to whatever trend he feels he needs to mask his true self under. He is a nomad with no home because he does not know himself and once he gets a glimpse of who he is, he runs.

The celebrities he meets as a journalist are whatever his mind projects them to be. To him they are exciting, desirable and posses whatever he lacks. They fuel his insecurity by the very need of him wanting to assimilate and be part of something that he is not. What ultimately happens though is that plays an enemy to himself by being no more than an observer. He does not question what he sees and believes that nothing he sees could be an act. Like the mystery that allures people to another, he is enamored by their image and success. After spending so much time with these movie stars though he sees their cracks and weaknesses but is unfazed. He wants to believe the elusive lie that is their representation of happiness and not his own.

The turning point of the film is when he is at the beach with the famous crowd he has leeched onto the whole film. He encounters an angelic looking girl who looks at him invitingly. She offers him self redemption but he falters. Instead he goes with his fake friends and ultimately kills any sort of self worth he may have ever had. He seeks the lie of something fake because it is much more exciting even though it offers nothing substantial. Her eyes trail off of him and onto us for falling into the same trap. It is hypnotic, haunting and unforgettable.