Tracker Pixel for Entry

​Quintessential Italian masterwork finally on Blu-ray

Cinema | December 10th, 2014

Last week I reviewed still-active Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci’s breakthrough film “The Conformist,” but that’s not the only Italian classic new to Blu-ray. The legendary Federico Fellini (1920-1993) is probably the best-known director of Italian cinema around the world, by name at least, even among people who have seen few, if any, of his films. He has influenced not only numerous other directors but popular culture itself, with his own name turned into the adjective “Fellini-esque” to describe surreal excesses reminiscent of his later films. One of his characters, a persistent photojournalist named “Papparazzo,” has been pluralized to become an international term for overly-persistent media photographers constantly hounding celebrities. This character and a large part of Fellini’s reputation both come from his career-shifting film “La Dolce Vita” (1960), which was released on a stunning new Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection several weeks ago.

Fellini’s earlier films were often rooted in the post-World War II Italian neorealist movement, but with “La Dolce Vita” he gleefully abandoned that mode for a fresh approach influenced by the French New Wave, classical cinema, and his own idiosyncratic style, anticipating the new direction of Italian cinema and independent international filmmakers throughout the following decade. One of the reporters in the movie even asks a character, “Do you think that Italian neorealism is dead?”

Although mostly shot on actual locations, the neorealistic focus on poverty and the working classes is largely absent from “La Dolce Vita” (with a few brief exceptions), marking a drastic departure from his acclaimed 1950s classics like “La Strada” and “Nights of Cabiria.” Fellini would later depart into even more eccentric and self-indulgent filmmaking, but “La Dolce Vita” easily stands among his best films, along with “8½” (1963) and “Amarcord” (1973). One of the essentials of international cinema, “La Dolce Vita” is a film that gains in depth and understanding with each viewing; it has that odd ability to document its own era so vividly and yet still resonate strongly with the present day, over a half-century later.

The story takes place in Rome over the course of a few days and nights, following the actions and observations of jaded journalist Marcello (Marcello Mastroianni) as he encounters a wide variety of people: mostly the rich and famous, and wannabes hoping for some publicity; sometimes the diverse women he is involved with in conflicted relationships; and sometimes those whom he renews acquaintance with (like a troubled old friend and his aging father) or randomly crosses paths with. Over the course of the film his passive acceptance and exploitation of “the sweet life” changes to disenchantment and a questioning of his own conflicting values and those of society. Mastroianni is well-supported by Yvonne Furneaux as his needy fiancée, Anouk Aimee as his wealthy socialite mistress, and Anita Ekberg as an American-Swedish movie star he becomes attracted to.

The pervading darkly comic satire, largely inspired by and loosely fictionalizing several actual events, provides an overview of Italian society that was then in rapid transition, and foreshadows the international celebrity-obsessed and largely superficial society we pretty much take for granted today. “La Dolce Vita” would make an appropriate co-feature with Billy Wilder’s “Ace in the Hole” (1951) and Alexander Mackendrick’s “Sweet Smell Of Success” (1957), as it takes the cynically critical themes of media celebrity that both films explore and expands their more traditional narratives into a free-form, episodic example of modern cinema, comparable in certain ways to Truffaut’s “The 400 Blows” and Godard’s “Breathless,” as well as films by Antonioni, Buñuel, Resnais and others.

Picture quality on Criterion’s Blu-ray of “La Dolce Vita” is outstandingly crisp and clear for the most part; the spectacularly-composed 2.35:1 wide CinemaScope image was scanned in 4K HD from the camera negative, with some sequences slightly softer due to a scan from a fine-grain positive. The mono audio is very strong; its good range of frequency and dynamics are a great showcase for Nino Rota’s score. Dialogue is Italian with optional English subtitles, but there are occasional conversations and phrases in English, French, and German.

Bonus features include a fold-out leaflet instead of the usual booklet, with one side containing credits and disc info, while the other side has a fine analytical/historical essay. While there is sadly no audio commentary, the disc has several fascinating interviews (most in HD): archival ones with Fellini himself and Mastroianni, and newly-recorded interviews with director (and Fellini colleague) Lina Wertmüller and two scholars. There is also an enlightening video featurette (in HD) on the film’s use of cinematography, and an image gallery of advertising and press materials.

LA DOLCE VITA on Blu-ray – Movie : A- / Video : A / Audio : A / Extras: A-

Recently in:

By Maddie Robinson  maddierobi.mr@gmail.comIn order to get affordable child care for her son, Paulina Erbele has to drive from her work in Gackle,…

By John Showalter  john.d.showalter@gmail.comphoto by Logan MacraeAnyone who lives in the Fargo-Moorhead area knows that its yearly weather is a sequence of…

Every day in December 2023, 12 noon to 3pmMille Lacs Lake, Garrison Township, Minn.All fish must be caught by hook and line. No spears will be allowed. All fish entered must be brought to the judges stand immediately and be alive.…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comRemember the legacy of the NPL.Last Saturday I had the opportunity to attend the annual meeting and dinner hosted by the Dakota Resource Council in Bismarck. I came in feeling a little defeated,…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comHow Many of Napoleon’s Hats Will Save Planet Earth for Homo Sapiens?Before I get into this week’s subject of why we need to double the number of college majors in English and Humanities if we…

We are looking for 55-gallon plastic food grade barrels, do you have ideas or connections?We use these barrels to teach our resilient yard workshop series including Make Your Own Rain Barrel and Make Your Own Compost Tumbler. If…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.comThe temperatures have dropped and so have the leaves in the Upper Midwest. That means it's now the holiday season. Part of the joy of this special season for me is eating. But first things first.…

Dropkick Murphys Put Music to the Words of Woody GuthrieBy Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comPhoto by Dave StaubleWith the release of 2022’s “This Machine Still Kills Fascists” and 2023’s “Okemah Rising.” The Dropkick…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com“Saltburn,” the highly anticipated follow-up to “Promising Young Woman” – which earned Oscar gold for Best Original Screenplay – doesn’t quite equal the bite and sting of…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comA trio of Burleigh County artists are making their mark in Wing, North Dakota, to promote local foods and are quite literally painting the town, or at least the newly acquired Wing City Government…

By Eric Dallmanericd@hpr1.comWe recently watched “The PROM” at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre, and it was an experience that left a lasting impact on us. The story, a heartwarming yet familiar one, follows a group of Broadway stars…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

By John Showalter  john.d.showalter@gmail.comThey sell fentanyl test strips and kits to harm-reduction organizations and…

JANUARY 19, 1967– MARCH 8, 2023 Brittney Leigh Goodman, 56, of Fargo, N.D., passed away unexpectedly at her home on March 8, 2023. Brittney was born January 19, 1967, to Ruth Wilson Pollock and Donald Ray Goodman, in Hardinsburg,…

By Faye Seidlerfayeseidler@gmail.com On the first day of the month I ask people to thank a journalist they know or someone who contributes to papers in some meaningful way. When I grew up, my best friend's father was a journalist…