This isn't love, it's brutalization!

Other films I have watched over this sick period have been decent and good, but none have been as moving, meaningful and great as Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita. So the other movies I have seen will take the back burner for a while and I will do a big lump sum review for them. But now, here are my thoughts on a classic that I have been waiting to watch for too long.

La Dolce Vita is the kind of movie experience that I love. Visually stunning and brilliant, deep inner subtext and intriguing layered characters. And what makes it even better is it's Roma backdrop. Nothing makes a movie better. Fellini's touch to filmmaking is something I have been putting off because the selection at good 'ol Wow sucked and was all dubbed versions. Thanks to Netflix, I got to see the film in all it's grandeur on DVD, in Italian (and german and english sometimes) and not colorized like some versions. I hate that shit. Anyway, the film is about a playboy journalist named Marcello and his life of luxury and prestige. Or is it so luxiorious and presitgous? It shows the night life of the upper class Romans, pokes fun at the american cinema stars that thought they owned the world, and what really matters in life. The film definitely does the job right. I knwo AFI did a top 100 american films, but I need to see a published best films of all time list including films from around the world. Lord knows this will be up there in the high ranks (and will be quickly and swiftly added to my upper echelon of favs.) The movie is long and sometimes you can feel it, but the payoff is worth the lengthy, long-winded scenes of partying at all hours of the night and early AM to get the story across. The only other older classic foreign films that were as good as this that I have watched recently were Rashomn for Touey and The Seventh Seal. Something about this was better than those, however. Its probably because I have grown to love Italian cinema after my class this past semester, but I don't know what it is. I think the film was just a beautiful film all around. It was also pretty scathing of the media in general with many scenes ripping apart reporters and the Paparazzi. Regardless, be forewarned, this one is a film lovers film. Not one you pick up on a Friday night to watch and enjoy it to some popcorn. So although it's definitely one of the best, watch it when you are prepared for the goods.

Also, before I forget, there is a sweet cameo by Nico in the film. She plays herself. Put yeah, once I heard that deep, soothing germanic voice, I was freaking (although I know I heard she was in it a while ago.)

I leave with my personal favorite scene and quote from the film.

Steiner: Don't be like me. Salvation doesn't lie within four walls. I'm too serious to be a dilettante and too much a dabbler to be a professional. Even the most miserable life is better than a sheltered existence in an organized society where everything is calculated and perfected.