La Dolce Vita | Federico Fellini's Stylish Cinematic Landmark

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With the support of Creative Europe - MEDIA Programme of the European Union Plus.
In this video essay we look at Federico Fellini's stylish cinematic landmark La Dolce Vita, a film that, to quote Martin Scorsese, "conquered the universe". We discuss it in relation to the Italian Neo-Realist movement (Rome Open City, Bicycle Thieves) that came before, and the Fellini films that came after, like 8½, and Amarcord.
Written, edited and narrated by Leigh Singer - www.leighsinger.com
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[@TheDiscardedImage]

Is La Dolce Vita Fellini's best film?

[@JoJo-xp6wr]

Agreed

[@johns123]

8 1/2 is his best film

[@sirlordhenrymortimer6620]

No, 81/2 for me is the best but it depends on one's taste

[@JoJo-xp6wr]

@@sirlordhenrymortimer6620 agreed

[@Armakk]

No.

[@waynem7634]

As an Art Director, Fellini's La Dolce Vita is filled with so many iconic images. It's a feast for the eyes.

[@theesperanzacompromisebyja9044]

"Censorship is advertising paid for by the government." - Federico Fellini

[@poetcomic1]

And I am glad that the Catholic Church withdrew their condemnation of La Dolce Vita - it is really a very Catholic film in many ways and 'La Dolce Vita' is certainly not very sweet for Marcello.

[@nikshmenga]

If "8 1/2" isn't Fellini's best, it certainly is his most iconic film . Of course to fully enjoy it you really have to see it at least twice.

[@randywhite3947]

Nah La Dolce Vita is the more iconic it’s the film people think of first when first mentioning Fellini

[@michaelcelani8325]

@@randywhite3947 I started Fellini in 1975 at the Art Cinema in Newtown Penna. Have Seen all his films . Even the. ..." As the Band Plays On " YOU MUST SEE FELLINI IN THE REAL THEARTRE. NOT ON VIDEO. ! I know that is hard to do now days...but the meanings change...

[@deckofcards87]

​@@randywhite3947According to whom? 8 1/2 is the one most directors and critics prefer. It's the Fellini ranked highest on Sight and Sound and most top 100 lists. La Dolce Vita was the bigger commercial hit.

[@juju10683]

@@deckofcards87I prefer 8 1/2 for sure

[@starkingbiker]

La Dolce Vita was my first introduction to Fellini, still need to check out his other work, since it became one of my absolute favorite films.

[@L3i6HSin63R]

definitely worth checking out others - the earlier ones are less overtly stylized, so depends on how "Felliniesque" your taste is. personally I'm a big fan of I Vitelloni.

[@starkingbiker]

Leigh Singer I have the boxset at home with La Strada, 8 1/2 and Nights of Cabiria- can‘t wait to watch them

[@ThewildvoiceOrg1]

@@starkingbiker You should watch _8 1/2,_ _Juliet of the Spirits,_ and _Amarcord._ *8 1/2* being the greatest of all his movies.

[@patriziapiva3350]

♥️

[@highwind1991]

I've been waiting for someone to make a great video about one of my top three favorite films of all time and it is finally here :)

[@chucklebutt4470]

the other two? Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit and Short Circuit. 😄

[@MAronson]

Hope Floats and Space Jam

[@randywhite3947]

I’ve seen you on a lot of videos you have excellent taste

[@randywhite3947]

What’s your top three?

[@L3i6HSin63R]

thank you, Adriano! it's a very special film, I agree.

[@leoinsf]

I consider La Dolce Vita Fellini's best film. His images are youthfully dynamic and he has a freedom of plot development that isn't as apparent in 8 1/2. I think that 8 1/2 builds on the momentum of La Dolce Vita, but is less youthful and more contrived. Don't get me wrong, 8 1/2 is incredible, but La Dolce Vita is other-worldly in many ways and "breaks the mold". It is the freshness of image, unpredictability of plot, that makes La Dolce so dynamic. La Dolce is more external where 8 1/2 is more internal. La Dolce is more image and 8 1/2 is more plot. One cannot predict the plot line of La Dolce Vita. Its unusual twists and turns make it dynamically outrageous! The death of his friend who murders his children, the sea monster on the beach, the young girl (madonna figure) beckoning to the central character are uniquely suggestive of a deeper meaning in the film and succeeds in pulling you into the movie because you want answers. However, In this film there are no answers because life does not follow a script, plus Fellini chooses outrageousness to predictability and in the process brings us "to the edge of our seats" in seeking some kind of resolution or "message" to the film. At the end of the film, you sit dazzled by the emotions of what has happened in the movie and you don't quite know what it all means! Fellini has succeeded in putting us in Rome of the 50's and in the shoes of the people of the film, and weaves a plot that is typically Italian. There is no message other than the magic of Fellini, the magic of his characters, and the magic of his Rome.

[@TheTulina]

What about ROMA ...

[@leoinsf]

@@TheTulina I absolutely love Roma!!! What Fellini does for 50's Rome in La Dolce Vita, he does for Ancient Rome in Roma! Fellini could really capture the spirit of place in his movies. Then there is Nights in Cabiria: a favorite Fellini film for me.

[@leoinsf]

@@TheTulina When I e-mail you, I was thinking "Satyricon", not "Roma." (Oops!) Like so much of Fellini, after seeing it again after many years, I do consider "Roma" one of the best Fellini creations. I loved the way he takes a "butcher knife" to the Catholic Church, especially with the ending "fashion show". Yes, he hates the way Italy has evolved in the 60's (drugs, hippies, etc.), but like all of his movies, he is proud to be an Italian. The disappearing mosaics was the greatest symbolism that he ever created in his movies. Roma is a masterwork and so, so, funny. As an Italian, the outdoor meal is sooo Italian. Fellini is a master of satire.

[@deckofcards87]

​​@@leoinsfThe only drawback for me with Roma is that it's in color. His b&w images are more attractive and vivid, but that's just me. Nights of Cabiria is also one of my all time favourites! God, Masina is adorable in that film.

[@BirdArvid]

Great video! Having been an opera singer for a long time, I can compare Fellini a lot to another great Italian genius: Giuseppe Verdi. He too took the tradition which was handed to him and worked within that framework. As he needed space to create his own vision and that framework turned into a cage, he blew it up; not with pompous fanfare, but by simply stretching the frame until it disappeared. He started as yet another Rossini or Donizetti, and ended as a singular creator who simply wrote as and what he wanted. Fellini started anchored in neo-realism, and more and more trusted himself and his genius to say what he wanted to say. In the case of both men, they stayed unmistakably Italian but both furthered their art-form beyond what anyone else was capable of doing. Comparing the Verdi of Il corsaro, from 1848 and that of his last two works; Otello and Falstaff is as astonishing and interesting as comparing The White Sheik with 8 1/2. The world would be immeasurably poorer without these two great Italians..

[@vincezaaa]

I agree . Great comparison

[@WayTooClose]

Kurosawa seemed to follow a similar path in terms of initially directing "realistic" films and evolving into far more dreamlike work.

[@bimmovieproductions6352]

I did a little marathon with Fellini a little while ago. Started with I Vitteloni, then La strada, nights of Cabiria and then La dolce vita. I've also seen 8 1/2 twice, once in the cinema. I think 8 1/2 might be his best film, however La dolce ain't far behind.

[@IvonaFlakus]

Where did you manage to still find those films? 😩🙏🏼

[@bimmovieproductions6352]

@@IvonaFlakus Saw some on mubi I remember, but I also pirated some of it oups.

[@patriziapiva3350]

Li vedrei tutti all'infinito, per la ricchezza di questo cinema e bellezza. Fellini è il Cinema.

[@jualiet2212]

8 1/2 is more visually stunning (as if that’s possible), but La Dolce Vita is more thematically complex and less self-indulgent.

[@copyright232]

pretentious nerd 🤓

[@caracre]

The grotesque aspect really got to me emotionally. I was surprised

[@ramencurry6672]

Huh?

[@caracre]

@@ramencurry6672 the opulence was bringing me feelings of hate, but then I got that that was the point.

[@crobeastness]

@@caracre so because it was the point, you ended up liking it? why?

[@parkersedberry7233]

What a detailed video! I'll be using this for a research project and I will reference your channel!

[@poetcomic1]

Fellini had a surprising love of Hitchcock. He even said 'The Birds' was one of the ten most beautiful films ever made. Notice in La Dolce Vita that he borrows the helicopter hovering over sunbathing girls on a roof from Hitchcock's Rear Window.

[@elasticharmony]

I was seeing a vision in my head of that actor and now I know we're to find him!

[@leandrohernanbardach3874]

Dolce Vita is a trip. A path of initiation. The Hero ( Marcello ) shows his innocence metamorphosing as he goes trough mysterious scenes in which all his fears become characters who make him grow in self-consciousness .

[@adarshjose3891]

Most waited video ❣️

[@L3i6HSin63R]

thanks, and hope it was worth the wait!

[@JoJo-xp6wr]

Love the voice over, the editing, the music choice, you are awesome!

[@L3i6HSin63R]

thank you, Youssef! and yes, Nina Rota's music makes pretty much anything better.

[@driziiD]

your videos about older films are usually higher quality

[@maryanneevans9563]

I loved seeing Giulietta in the audience. I loved her in La Strada.

[@malvinderkaur4187]

in fact the cinema of that time in Europe was at its height of story telling and imagination French Italian both with great directors bringing superb craft in it

[@abdimojo8794]

Without the ambien sound from the movie your voice is so ASMR.

[@parniyankarimi9952]

amazing! great job

[@L3i6HSin63R]

thank you Parniyan!

[@daverizz]

I always find myself going to hit the like button multiple times watching these videos. Thanks!

[@L3i6HSin63R]

no, thank YOU!

[@fredojoaquim4764]

Ah! La dolce vita!. ☀️ 🌟.

[@katomiler843]

Great post.

[@malvinderkaur4187]

i love his cinema simply marvelous in thought and making sensibilities uniquely his own. Something only masters auteurs have.

[@micerocha2287]

"La Dolce Vita" ....estrondosa obra,do mestre Fellini....Marcello foste um maiores actores de todos os tempos....belo como poucos , foste tão amado...foste sempre um grande Senhor, fora e dentro da tela...hoje és uma linda estrela....vamos nos ver...vou procurar te 🌻❤️🌻

[@yallowrosa]

great video editing I would like to see some dialogues of the English dubbed versions of DV & 8.5

[@L3i6HSin63R]

thank you Yallow!

[@mashtali1]

in this 3 hours you see the whole world and life. masterpiece.

[@Esiiseify]

what movie excerpt is it at 11:14? thanks.

[@JohnMoseley]

I was mystified at where you got that 'Amarcord' means 'I remember'. My Italian learning on Duo Lingo is in its infancy, so I'm not entirely qualified to comment, but Italian verbs for the first person singular routinely end in 'o', as in 'sono'. And google translate doesn't back you up either, simply giving 'Amarcord' as the translation for 'Amarcord.' But Wikipedia's entry for the film helpfully explains up front in its intro: 'The film's title is a univerbation of the Romagnolo phrase a m'arcôrd ("I remember").' I'm pleased to have learned the word 'univerbation', linked on Wikipedia to its own short page. And Romagnolo, as another linked Wikipedia page explains, is an Italian dialect.

[@JohnMoseley]

@Leo Tuzzo Thanks, Leo. Actually, that what my post went on to say I'd found out (but I realise it was very long).

[@blackiesun]

Italy has a dialect at least for every region it has. Amarcord now has become a word that in italian means "nostalgic remembering of the past" and it comes from Fellini's film of course.

[@shawnmckee1783]

When Fellini works he is more happy more hungry more satisfied more enlightened!

[@garrison6863]

Anouk AImee was really good in La Dolce VIta, she passed on a few weeks ago. She was also good in 81/2

[@lactroc11]

great movie

[@thanasisKrispis]

❤❤❤❤❤thank you

[@emilianodiaz2489]

6:30 from what movie is the frame of the right?

[@waterspout8]

Miller's Crossing

[@deckofcards87]

Hmm. I think my favourites are the two starring Guilietta Masina,..La Strada... and Nights of Cabiria. They're more intimate films than La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2 and Amacord which are wider in scope mosaics of life. I'd gladly sit and watch any of them on the big screen, though, given the opportunity.

[@ajaxfilms]

Great movie!!

[@Arashkaman128]

❤❤❤❤

[@JEFFIE-jp6kj]

His most entertaining film .. the image of ANITA EKBERG in the Trevi Fountains is iconic tho it didn't make her a massive star as it should have

[@CristianVancaillie]

Magic....!!!! No I prefer 8 1/2. 🐞

[@CPolis]

I planned to watch La Dolce Vita at the cinema but then Corona came along :/

[@lorenzomoro9286]

I Vitelloni is actually a depiction of the middle class provincialism at his best. Those characters weren't working class.

[@johnwilliams6742]

La dolce vita

[@saswathgopan1543]

Sometimes can't hear you over the movie. Otherwise great video

[@Allan-et5ig]

The Discarded Image - It's his best film. You didn't completely 'unpack' the Christ vs. sea monster scenes. The glittering Christ statue is obviously painfully fake. The sea 'monster' all too real. Hence godliness, etc., may not exist but monsters, do. I say this not because so did Roger Ebert but Fellini himself felt it was obvious. A very interesting overview of perhaps my favorite film. Cheers!

[@shaunwilson2537]

James Bond only ever had B-grade girls. Even the villain ones were bad lines. This used to be acceptable, I don't know why, but at least when George Lazenby had a go, he did total root rat.

[@RSpudieD]

Saw La Dolce Vita for my anthropology class and wasn't a huge fan but it wasn't that bad either! Also, I'm impressed I saw this within 1 minute after publishing! LOL.

[@unclealand]

I much prefer Fellini’s wonderful “Amarcord” than this dated piece of gossip columns. “La Dolce Vita” has some good segments, but the Anita Ekberg part is only 20 minutes long (out of a 3-hour movie) and it’s the least interesting part of the movie.

[@josiahhamilton6559]

Always cool to see Fellini content but you didn't really say anything interesting or unique about the movie that i havent heard in other youtube videos

[@adarshjose3891]

I love your videos But try not to use the sound from the movie along with your narration as it can take away the viewer's attention

[@ramencurry6672]

A lot of these analysis is just made up interpretations from the narrator. A lot of the scenes actually don’t have that much meaning. It’s just stylish gimmicks or filler to make the movie move along.

[@chrystianaw8256]

Not really. Are you even familiar with Fellini