Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée, Yvonne Furneaux, Magali Noël, Alain Cuny

From the opening sequence of two helicopters transporting a Christ sculpture over Rome to the very last vision on the beach, Fellini’s La Dolce Vita is a captivating sequence of events revolving around one man, Marcello Rubini. A playboy both confident and unsure, we follow one week of his “sweet” life of bizarre characters such as fading aristocrats, second-rate movie stars, aging playboys and rich women. There are suicidal fiancees, alluring mistresses, and a lecherous father; all of these people affirm the centering around a man who is fruitlessly looking for love and purpose.

La Dolce Vita straddles Fellini’s previous neo-realist films and his future carnivalesque style of filmmaking. Some narratives are straight while others are winding out of control. A comedy-drama, it is expressive in design (those costumes!) and in eccentric characters who wear them. One can never visit Rome without wanting to dive into Trevi Fountain crying, “Marcello! Marcello!” An unforgettable Italian cinematic experience.