I really did not know what to make of Federico Fellini's 1960 movie "La Dolce Vita". A stunning Marcello Mastroianni stars and the term "paparazzo" (plural: paparazzi) is derived from the name of the photographer, who works for Mastroianni's character in a gossip magazine. The film lacks a coherent narrative, but it seems to center on some days and nights in the life of Marcello (the protagonist's name), a celebrity gossip journalist who also seems to have (or have had) literary aspirations. What is evident, throughout the film, is that Marcello is probably not content with his life. Much as he seems to enjoy the limelight and some of the perks of his job (getting to hang around attractive and famous women), one can understand that he seeks some sense of fulfillment; he sees his life as materialistic, and is envious of an intellectual friend of his, who seems to live a more "spiritual" life than Marcello.
Marcello cheats on his fiancée, who in turn attempts suicide, desperate for his love and attention. There is an episode, in which they angrily break up and he kicks her out of his car, leaving her stranded on the road, only to return hours later and pick her up and apparently make up with her. At some other point, Marcello obtains the services of a prostitute for his visiting father, who enjoys the attention at first, but has a mild heart attack while in her room and leaves in embarrassment.
A significant section of the film is centered on the coverage of two children (apparently trained by con-men) who claim to see apparitions of the Virgin Mary. The scenes in that section are fascinating, in that they show how people react to such purported miracles, how they flock trying to get some miracle therapy for their diseases, persisting even during rainfall, how the two children, very obviously schooled, claim to see the visions at one place or another and how this ends in tragedy, as a small child is run over by the crowd which is running to another place, where one of the children says he saw the Madonna.
A turning point in the movie is when Marcello learns that his intellectual friend, Steiner, killed himself and his two children; it is up to Marcello to break the news to Steiner's widow, while many gossip-magazine photographers try to take her picture. This leads to Marcello indulging in ever more materialistic habits, participating in a party, which takes place in a villa, into which the party-goers have broken in. Marcello even suggests that everyone in the party has sex with everyone else, assigning each person their partner. This is not accepted, however, and the whole group goes out to the beach, where they see a giant fish that has been stranded on the beach or caught by the fishermen. The fish's giant, empty dead eyes are one of the iconic images of European cinema. Their emptiness, reflecting the emptiness of Marcello's life (which he failed to fill with his literary pursuits, the devotion to his job, his indulgence in materialistic habits or women, his feelings for his fiancée, and his attempt to "up his intellectual ante" with Steiner).
There is one character, in the whole movie, that probably encompasses the purity or the innocence, which Marcello seems to crave for: a young waitress, named Paola. He sees her at a seaside resort, and engages in conversation with her, calling her an angel; this is at about the middle of the movie. He gets to see her once again at the end, on the beach, after his failed attempt to incite an orgy and after seeing the giant fish - only now they are separated by a distance and some water, the wind is blowing and Marcello cannot make out what Paola is trying to tell him. A close-up of her face, watching Marcello go away (and, possibly forfeiting his shot at the purity he sought), ends the movie.
Let me just say that Mastroianni's acting is brilliant - and, of course, the music by Nino Rota is amazing. A film definitely worth watching.
