The Sweet Life (1960)

La Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life) follows a week in the life of Marcello Rubini, a charming but restless gossip journalist and wannabe writer drifting through the glittering, decadent nightlife of late-1950s Rome. Episodic and folio-like, the film tracks his encounters with a range of figures — the unattainable movie star Sylvia, the bored heiress Maddalena, his clingy girlfriend Emma, and the tragic intellectual Steiner — as he moves between celebrity parties on Via Veneto, tawdry bedrooms, and the city’s iconic landmarks. Marcello’s work as a paparazzo forces him toward the surfaces of modern life while he privately wrestles with whether to pursue serious art or surrender to pleasure and emptiness. If you watch this film you’ll experience a stylized, dreamlike portrait of postwar Roman high society: long, unforgettable images (including the famous Fontana di Trevi episode), a fluid blend of comedy and melancholy, and sequences that oscillate between glamorous satire and bleak moral observation. The film is more mood and character than plot-driven — its strength is in atmosphere, striking cinematography, and the slow-burning unraveling of Marcello’s hopes and self-respect. Moments of levity sit uneasily beside scenes of loneliness and despair, culminating in a shocking act that forces both character and viewer to confront the film’s darker truths. Expect an art-house, cinematic experience that rewards attention: vivid tableaux, social critique of celebrity culture and media, formal inventiveness, and an emotional undercurrent of yearning and disillusionment. Be aware it contains mature themes — sex, substance use, and suicide — and leaves many questions unresolved, inviting reflection rather than offering tidy answers.

Actors: Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée

Director: Federico Fellini

Runtime: 174 min

Genres: Comedy, Drama

95 /100 8.0 /10 8.8 /10