March - April 2008.pmd - The Italian Club of Tampa

MARCH/APRIL 2008Continued from page 12.without talent and intellect, but a frailfigure when it comes to makingdecisions about the course his lifeshould take. Marcello doeseverything he can to avoid selfreflection.He is a serious writer buthas surrendered to writing newspapercolumns about the rich and famous,which gives him entrée to their lives,especially their nocturnalwanderings. Wine, women, and songare a significant part of his daily life.Yet Marcello has a fiancé, Fanny,whom he treats in a most cavaliermanner, showing only perfunctoryinterest when she attempts suicidebecause of her despondency overtheir relationship. (He had spent theprevious night in the apartment of ahooker, precipitating her attempt.) Hecavorts about town with sex-queenAnita Ekburg, representative ofAmerican and European “blondbombshells” who visited Romeduring the heyday of the golden age.Fellini shot the film on the renownedVia Vento, home to endlessnightclubs and all of the seven deadlysins.Marcello and SylviaThe beauty of La Dolce Vitais the film’s representation ofdissipation, desperation, anddegeneration in a way that is neithertoo critical nor too accepting. Felliniis not a school master impartingmoral rectitudes. He is an artist whoexplores and interrogates humanexistence utilizing all of his technicaltools and thematic insights. He is anironist, parodist, and satirist, to besure, but he is careful never to crossthe line and engage in didacticpedantry or, worse yet, demagoguery.What makes Fellini a magnificentdirector is his willingness tosurrender the act of interpretation tothe viewer. He creates powerfulscenes that capture our intellects andimaginations in order that we mightdraw inferences of insight.One of my favorite examplesof Fellini’s deep sense of ironyinvolves the arrival of Marcello’sfather (a traveling salesman) to visithis son. The father-son reunioncovers several scenes and,collectively, they serve as a metaphorfor the entire film, a synecdoche thatreveals Italy’s cultural breakdown tobe systemic and multi-generational.When Marcello meets his father(unnamed, ironically), we anticipatethat the “wiser” patriarch willprovide a distinct comparison to hisdissolute offspring. Instead, exactlythe opposite occurs. The fathercajoles his son into taking him on atour of nightclubs. Marcello assistshis father in his getting drunk andcompletes the degeneration (anddegenerational) by introducing hisfather to a woman at the club, a“worker of the night.” The fathergoes to her apartment, becomesviolently ill, and requires theassistance of his son to return to hishome and wife, far away in thecountryside separated from thecorrupting powers of Rome. Thisfather-son encounter tells us muchabout human fallibility, the weaknessof the flesh and spirit.PAGE 13Father and sonAny treatment of La DolceVita should refer to the film’s muchnotedorgy scene, quite tame bytoday’s standards but stunninglyrisqué in spiritual representation.Marcello and his troupe ofaristocrats, minor movie stars,prostitutes, transvestites, and boreddenizens of the night arrive at thehome of a wealthy Romanbusinessman. The odd collection ofhumanity assembles to celebrate thedivorce of one of its members, anaging woman who tantalizes thecrowd by beginning a sensual dance.Her ex-husband to be observes herbawdy behavior with nary anygesture of emotion. Her “act” isinterrupted when the homeownerarrives to discover that his house hasbeen abused in many ways. Thebored partygoers have wreakedhavoc with his furnishings and revealthe spiritual and moral wasteland oftheir lives. They carry their depravityand mindlessness with themwherever they go, like a turtlecarrying his shell. Their debaucheryis their ethos.A sad partyDawn has struck and theinebriated, exhausted crowd heads toContinued on page 29.