The Best Films You’ve Never Seen: La Dolce Vita (1960) by Federico Fellini

Escape Melbourne’s winter into the glamourous excesses of 1960s Rome with Federico Fellini’s masterpiece La Dolce Vita.

This landmark work of Italian cinema follows disillusioned journalist and failing novelist Marcello Rubini (Marcello Mastroianni) for seven days and nights as he drifts through the Eternal City in search of the “good life”. Amidst the decadence of high society during Italy’s post-war economic boom, Marcello encounters religious spectacle, hedonistic aristocrats, fading movie stars and disaffected intelligentsia, all swept up in a milieu characterised by celebrity-obsession, spiritual emptiness, and really great parties.  

In a career-defining performance, Mastroianni leverages his legendary charm to deliver a character who yearns for a sense of meaning and purpose while he submits to the temptations of a glamourous and empty life. Infused with this tension of beautiful excess, the film’s most iconic images --a giant statue of Christ being flown over the city and actress Anita Ekberg’s audacious midnight romp in the Trevi Fountain-- are as dazzling and provocative as ever.   

Condemned by the Vatican and subjected to widespread censorship at the time of its release, La Dolce Vita was nevertheless nominated for four Academy Awards and won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1960. Today it is hailed as one of the greatest films of all time and is ranked #60 in Sight and Sound’s 2022 Greatest Films of All Time poll.  

Don’t miss your chance to experience Fellini’s visionary epic on the big screen at The Capitol.

You can read more about the film on the Senses of Cinema web page.

 

Presented by RMIT Culture in partnership with RMIT Cinema Studies

La Dolce Vita

Country: Italy

Year: 1960

Duration: 174 minutes

Language: Italian language, English subtitles

Format: DCP

 

Image credit: Film still, La Dolce Vita (1960), Courtesy Janus Films.

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The Best Films You’ve Never Seen: La Dolce Vita (1960) by Federico Fellini

Icon / Small / Calendar Created with Sketch. 22 Jul 2025

Escape Melbourne’s winter into the glamourous excesses of 1960s Rome with Federico Fellini’s masterpiece La Dolce Vita.

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