la dolce vita

Fredrico Fellini's 1960 film deals with the life of Marcello Rubini, played by Marcello Mastroianni, a journalist living a decadent life of clubs and parties in Rome. The film follows him as he goes after interesting stories, beginning with the flight by helicopter of a statue of Christ into Rome. He is accompanied at various times by his friend and lover Maddalena, played by Anouk Aimee, and by his jealous fiancée Emma, played by Yvonne Furneaux and at all times by the photographer Paparazzo, Walter Santesso. The audience meets Sylvia, an American actress with a distinct breathy voice, whose sexual magnetism draws Rubini in, only for him to be left disappointed and damp in the Trevi fountain. Later, Rubini attends a party at house of his friend Steiner, who confides his fears about the atomic bomb. Marcello?s father, Annibale Ninchi, visits him in Rome and collapses at the house of the dancer Fanny. Rubini attends a party at the villa owned by Prince Mascalchi, the guests are a mixture of nationalities, including Italian, English and German. Rubini expresses his love to Maddalena, but she is already in the arms of another. After Steiner shoots himself and his children, Rubini goes to the bus stop with a policeman to meet Steiner?s wife. Paparazzo and the other photographers are there, wanting to get a picture of her when she finds out what has happened. The penultimate scene shows Marcello, now writing flattering articles for the film stars who pay him, at an orgiastic party. Finally, the partygoers wander to the beach, where an enormous manta has been caught by fishermen. Rubini sees Paola, a girl he has met earlier working in a restaurant, she attempts to remind him of his now abandoned novel, miming his typing, but he cannot hear her or comprehend her, and finally he walks away, while she waves.