After watching the inauguration today, my brains are sorta spent. In a happy way obviously, but what can I say to follow that bliss? Mostly nothing. Mental health break! I'll offer up some lovely frames from Federico Fellini's 196o masterpiece La Dolce vita then, because I finally watched it last night (I know, shame on me for taking so long, stop glaring) and... well what can I say about that that hasn't been said already? I took these by skipping around the film randomly and grabbing the frame upon which I landed (give or take a few seconds waiting for the right moment). Much prettiness, y'all.
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I first saw La Dolce vita when I was a freshman in college in late 1966. It totally blew me away, even when projected small scale in the student union. I think the only other foreign film I'd seen previously was Boccaccio 70. But that film was made up of three segments (one by Fellini) in its U.S. release (4 in its original European release and now on DVD), not a singular narrative. LDv opened my eyes and my mind to an entire realm of cinematic possiblilty that I'd had no idea existed. And while I love 8&1/2, La Strada, Juliet of the Spirits, and other of his creations, LDV remains the quintessential Fellini flick for me.
I've seen this film twice now and both times I had the exact same reaction: LOVE the first half (Fellini's depiction of the cold and empty upper class is ballsy and totally dead-on) but the second half, after the Virgin Mary scene, meanders quite a bit and, for me, loses its potent punch.
I did love LDv, but I don't think I'll ever love any Fellini like I do La Strada. I do still have a lot of gaps to fill in with regards to all the films he's made though. But La Strada really affected me on a personal level that LDv didn't as much. Although the failed orgy scene towards the end was terrifically upsetting.
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