La Dolce Vita

La Dolce Vita (1960)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053779/]

The Gist:
Yes I have watched yet another Fellini film, and I am burdened with the knowledge that it won't get any better than this. This, for me, is by far is most potent work. It's nearly three hours of pure genius. It's filled with moments that astonish me they were ever filmed. It's about a man working for a sort of tabloid, searching for meaning, disappointed with the path that his life has taken. He wonders through Rome with one woman or another, never satisfied, passing his time with vacant amusements of the wealthy. And yet this is such richness to so much of this film. The protagonist played by Marcello Mastrianni, who also played the lead in 8 1/2, has an incredible amount of charm and charisma throughout the film. He carries the film with such levity, all while Fellini takes his themes to lower and lower depths. I think the most amazing part of the film is that each segment could stand alone as a work of art, and yet the episodic nature of the film is tied together very strongly by the lead's performance. My only complaint is that in terms of endings, Nights of Cabiria was much more succinct and powerful (thought that's not to say La Dolce's ending is bad, it's just not quite as good in comparison). However, this is a small complaint because the ending is still rather beautiful, and the film overshadows his other work in nearly ever way for me. It's really quite phenomenal...and now I've nearly exhausted all his earlier work and will thus transition into what I've heard called as his "circus films".