DIRECTOR SPOTLIGHT: FEDERICO FELLINI DOUBLE FEATURE
LA STRADA (1954) ** ½
A young girl (Giulietta Masina) is sold by her mother to a circus strongman named Zampano (Anthony Quinn). He puts her in his act and they roam from town to town performing shows. Despite his abusive and womanizing ways, she still cares for him. Eventually, she falls in love with a clown played by Richard Basehart. Naturally, Zampano becomes jealous of their relationship and his hot tempered ways soon leads to tragedy.
Giulietta Masina has a sweet naivety about her that is really charming. There are moments where she just does absolutely nothing and it’s still a lot of fun to watch. The way she pantomimes her emotions is a real treat. (In some ways, she is reminiscent of a female Charlie Chaplin.)
The simpler scenes of Masina and Quinn just getting by and performing shows are fun. But once Basehart’s character is introduced, things go downhill fairly fast. The love triangle aspect of the film falls a bit flat, and the melodramatics in the end were ultimately just too much for me.
This was my first experience with a Fellini movie. I have to say that I enjoyed the early carnival scenes quite a bit. It’s just that Fellini has a tendency to let the later scenes run on too long. And Quinn’s abrasive character is a bit hard to take at times. However, the flick is almost worth watching solely on the basis of Masina’s performance.
LA DOLCE VITA (1960) ** ½
Marcello Mastroianni stars as a tabloid photographer who schmoozes with a sexy high society dame, played by Anouk Aimee. He then does press with a busty American movie star (Anita Ekberg) and they run around Rome together. Lots of other shenanigans happen (he meets up with his estranged father, hangs out with Nico from the Velvet Underground, his friend commits suicide, etc.) while Marcello’s girlfriend pines away for him.
La Dolce Vita is considered by many to be Federico Fellini’s masterpiece. At almost three hours, it’s way too long and is a bit of a slog in places. Due to the film’s episodic nature, La Dolce Vita is an uneven experience. Some of Fellini’s tangents are more interesting than others (the bit about the sighting of the Madonna goes on forever) and the bloated running time doesn’t help matter. But the film certainly has its moments.
For me, the scenes with the slinky Anita Ekberg worked the best. Then again, that was probably just because she’s so damn hot. I mean the scene where she’s dancing with her boobs bobbling all over the place was just plain awesome. And the scene where she hops into a big-ass fountain is great. Look, not many women can walk around with a cat on her head and make it look sexy, but Anita is definitely one of them.
Admittedly, whenever hot babes are parading around and dancing, La Dolce Vita is rather fun. Along with Anita’s segment, the final “orgy” scene involving an elaborate striptease is pretty cool. But whenever the flick is mired in boring subplots, it is decidedly less fun.
A young girl (Giulietta Masina) is sold by her mother to a circus strongman named Zampano (Anthony Quinn). He puts her in his act and they roam from town to town performing shows. Despite his abusive and womanizing ways, she still cares for him. Eventually, she falls in love with a clown played by Richard Basehart. Naturally, Zampano becomes jealous of their relationship and his hot tempered ways soon leads to tragedy.
Giulietta Masina has a sweet naivety about her that is really charming. There are moments where she just does absolutely nothing and it’s still a lot of fun to watch. The way she pantomimes her emotions is a real treat. (In some ways, she is reminiscent of a female Charlie Chaplin.)
The simpler scenes of Masina and Quinn just getting by and performing shows are fun. But once Basehart’s character is introduced, things go downhill fairly fast. The love triangle aspect of the film falls a bit flat, and the melodramatics in the end were ultimately just too much for me.
This was my first experience with a Fellini movie. I have to say that I enjoyed the early carnival scenes quite a bit. It’s just that Fellini has a tendency to let the later scenes run on too long. And Quinn’s abrasive character is a bit hard to take at times. However, the flick is almost worth watching solely on the basis of Masina’s performance.
LA DOLCE VITA (1960) ** ½
Marcello Mastroianni stars as a tabloid photographer who schmoozes with a sexy high society dame, played by Anouk Aimee. He then does press with a busty American movie star (Anita Ekberg) and they run around Rome together. Lots of other shenanigans happen (he meets up with his estranged father, hangs out with Nico from the Velvet Underground, his friend commits suicide, etc.) while Marcello’s girlfriend pines away for him.
La Dolce Vita is considered by many to be Federico Fellini’s masterpiece. At almost three hours, it’s way too long and is a bit of a slog in places. Due to the film’s episodic nature, La Dolce Vita is an uneven experience. Some of Fellini’s tangents are more interesting than others (the bit about the sighting of the Madonna goes on forever) and the bloated running time doesn’t help matter. But the film certainly has its moments.
For me, the scenes with the slinky Anita Ekberg worked the best. Then again, that was probably just because she’s so damn hot. I mean the scene where she’s dancing with her boobs bobbling all over the place was just plain awesome. And the scene where she hops into a big-ass fountain is great. Look, not many women can walk around with a cat on her head and make it look sexy, but Anita is definitely one of them.
Admittedly, whenever hot babes are parading around and dancing, La Dolce Vita is rather fun. Along with Anita’s segment, the final “orgy” scene involving an elaborate striptease is pretty cool. But whenever the flick is mired in boring subplots, it is decidedly less fun.