Andiamo! | Citalia Magazine Autumn 2021

When Italian director Federico Fellini released La Dolce Vita,
the timing couldn’t be more perfect, as the film heralded
the hedonistic embrace of life after the harsh suffering
that Italy, and Rome in particular, had undergone in World War Two.
During the late 1950s, Rome really did undergo a
resurgence, with cabaret bars and nightclubs of
striptease and gin-fizzes taking centre stage, all to the
soundtrack of the perky Perez Prado song, Patricia.
Hollywood actors and wannabe celebrities flocked to Rome, followed by
a trail of reporters.
Rather than being a defined story, La Dolce Vita is more a montage of
events in the life of its protagonist, a handsome journalist called Marcello,
who has abandoned his literary ambitions for work as a gossip columnist.
Moving in upmarket circles of celebrity, aristocracy and even royalty,
Marcello is always seeking out the cause célèbre of the moment, from
glamorous affairs and the supposed miracle vision of the Madonna, to the
sombre death of his friend, a renowned intellectual.
What is La Dolce Vita?
The literal meaning of La Dolce Vita is the sweet life. While the film
captures the darker side of hedonism and debauchery, director Fellini
stated that he was not using the phrase La Dolce Vita ironically but
referring to the sweetness of life.
However the English language today uses the phrase La Dolce Vita
mockingly and somewhat scathingly against libertarian and heavily
materialistic lifestyles.
The film begins with a monument of Jesus Christ being flown over Rome
by helicopters towards St Peter’s Basilica, as young women sunbathing
on the rooftops ask: Where are you taking Jesus?
La Dolce Vita was intended as satire, a neo-realist film that was the first
of its kind from Italy, as Marcello battled between two worlds, one being
the traditional values of Catholic morality and family, the other a glitzy
yet godless society, which he falls deeper into as time goes on.
“Personally, I like Rome very much.
It’s sort of a moderate, quiet jungle
where one can hide well.”
In fact, when La Dolce Vita was released, it was both simultaneously
celebrated and criticised for its open approach to sexuality and
irreverence. It was a box office hit that brought in millions and won the
Palme d’Or, but it was also censored by the Vatican and banned in Spain.
It’s Marcello’s sidekick, a photo reporter called
Paparazzo, one of a gaggle of photographers
who always sticks their lens in the face of a scoop,
who lent his name to the modern-day term, paparazzi.
With the film’s release Rome became an epicentre of cool where wellheeled
visitors flocked.
The Eternal City became a place where it was deemed vogue to drink
cappuccinos and drive a Vespa by day, and wear sunglasses and hit the
clubs by night. An adjective for this lifestyle emerged: Italianate, and
firmly placed Italy on the map for global style.
Today, La Dolce Vita remains to stand the test of time and is well worth
watching. It also lives on, being referenced in popular modern films,
including Good Bye Lenin!, Pulp Fiction, and Lost in Translation, and was
even reversioned in Woody Allen’s 1998 film, Celebrity.
18 Citalia.com