I really enjoyed the shots in this movie as well. When everyone was at Steiner's there was a wide angle shot that included everyone in the living room and I thought that was pretty neat. I would've liked to snap a picture of everyone sitting there. I also really liked the constant bustle going on when Marcello was around his friends. Everyone was always moving, dancing, jumping in a car, or talking. So much of the movie was based on movement and large groups of people.
I kind of enjoyed that the protagonist didn't become a better person at the end, instead I think the reverse occurred for Marcello. He seemed to be searching for himself and love during the movie, but he could never quite grasp it. His girl friend was an addict and slightly insane, his other love interest was a big slut, and he just couldn't figure out whether to drop his journalist act to write a book. At the end he was alone, with a job that had nothing to do with his love for writing, and he seemed to be more of a rich asshole than ever. He was getting pretty abrasive with women and partying a little too hard. I think that all of this ties into the Neo-realism aspects of the movie. There isn't any pretending, this is completely a showcase of "real life" because of the lack of conversion in the main character and the rest of the characters are not innately good, they're just doing whatever they want to. I think it beautifully shows the lives of people with too much money and too much time on their hands.
I think the opening and closing shots are a commentary on the lack of morals in all of the character's lives in this film. Taking Jesus and flying him to the pope kind of said to me these people don't have strong values that they follow, especially when the guys flying Jesus stop to hit on girls in bikinis on a rooftop. I think the shot at the end ties into the same picture with the huge dead sea creature because it signifies the loss of a natural values system that these people obviously do not have. I could be way off base, but eh, I figured I'd take a stab at it.
I think you nailed it on the head for me. The fact that the protagonist didn't change for the better at the end relates to this idea of realism in film. The film is much like real life, as in it goes on; sometimes without any significance occurring in the events or any dramatic change in one's personality. Through La Dolce Vita, life simply happens.
ReplyDeleteI also felt like this movie would drive me nuts but the pacing was just so well put together. To me it was a series of random moments in this man's life. This post-modern episodic narrative structure kind of reminded me of the animated film Persepolis but more non-linear.
Good pickup on the contrast of the characters' clothes to their actions. I think this might be a commentary on wealth, and as you said later, "people with too much money and too much time on their hands." They can dress as fancily as they do b/c of their wealth, but why bother getting suited up if they're just going to get rowdy and end up taking their clothes off anyway? (of course, this might be the very point of getting suited up.)
ReplyDeleteI'm not so sure that there isn't any pretending in this film as you said. Yes, the characters are realistically just messed up people, but I saw their behavior as less realistic and more the opposite extreme of innately good. Fellini definitely brings those unflattering character traits to the forefront w/this extreme depiction of lavish lifestyles, however, and in that way, yes, he's not pretending that these people have any moral fortitude simply b/c they're rich.
This is an amazingly good analysis, Erin. You really describe the whole thing in a nutshell--the bad behavior beneath all the style, Marcello's indecision, the stark portrayals of all this behavior, the strange grittiness beneath all the glamour, and the constant motion that you describe.
ReplyDeleteI'd have liked to see you tie in the reading a bit, and ideas of how this film might have commented on Catholicism, just to really anchor this. Was his girlfriend an addict? I didn't catch that. My assumption was that she just downed all those pills for the suicide gesture thing.