Saturday, November 2, 2024, 12:30 pm to 5:00 pm
Instructor: Maurizio Giammarco, Ph.D., Temple University
In 1960, Italy was a country in rapid cultural transition. Nowhere was this ebb and flow of conservative values and flashy consumerism more evident than in the Eternal City. And in this moment, Federico Fellini undertook to weave a tapestry that would capture this new world.
Infamous for its sensuality but eminent for its scope, the resulting film became an immediate sensation. La Dolce Vita (1960) trails a gossip columnist (Marcello Mastroianni) as he wanders through Rome like a Dantesque pilgrim, meeting fantastical characters. The events that follow form seven distinct episodes of action, shifting from the debauchery of night to the revelatory light of day. In seeking to capture this glittery world rebuilt from the ruins of the Italian postwar period, Fellini and his co-screenwriters forged a new cinematic narrative, modernist in nature, in which traditional plot, character development, and narrative logic were abandoned.
Furthermore, the themes Fellini explores in La Dolce Vita underscore several 21st-century dilemmas: our obsession with the loss of privacy; the deadening of the senses from, and the addiction to, technology; the corruption of media; and the lust for fame. Superbly photographed in black and white and hauntingly scored by Nino Rota, La Dolce Vita is one of the essential films of modern cinema, an epic fable that depicts “the sweet life” with a mixture of satire and compassion.
Are you interested in “just” seeing this movie? Visit the public screening page here.
Cinema Classics Seminars offer an entertaining and engaging way to learn more about some of the true classics of world cinema. All students receive an introductory lecture before the film and a guided discussion after the film. In addition, those in attendance receive a ticket to see it on the big screen, as well as popcorn and a drink. Please note: the screening associated with this seminar will be open to the public, as well.
Please email BMFI Programs and Education Coordinator Jill Malcolm with any questions.
$25 for members, $35 for non-members
Schedule