April 2, 2009

The Sweet Life

Title: La Dolce vita
Year: 1960 (Italy), 1961 (US)
Director: Federico Fellini
Writers: Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano & Tullio Pinelli, with Brunello Rondi
Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée, Yvonne Furneaux
Music: Nino Rota
Distinctions: Oscar for Best Costume Design (black-and-white) (1962); Oscar nominations for Best Director, Best Story and Screenplay and Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (black-and-white) (1962); currently #239 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: jackass + 3 hours = movie!
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), May 2008
Subjective Rating: 3/10 (Bad).
Objective Rating: 4/10 (gets points for cinematography, special effects/design, acting and music) c. 2.2/4 (Okay).

The sort of movie that gets heavily analyzed because the audience has Nothing Else To Do for 3 hours. No story. No dramatic tension of any kind. The characters are well developed, but I don't have any reason to give a crap about any of them; they're not remotely sympathetic, and they're not doing anything. Given my (modern-day, American) taste, I think I've been remarkably tollerant of Fellini so far, but this one takes the self-indulgence way too far.

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