La Dolce Vita, 1960 (Grade A)

Director Federico Fellini
Awards: Academy Award Nominations --and one win for costumes, plus BAFTA nomination
Cast: Marcello Mastroianni; ANita Ekberg; Anouk Aimee; Yvonne Furneaux; Magali; Alain Cuny; Annibale Ninchi; Walter Santesso

story line:  a meditation on the meaning of life and love, staring Marcello Mastroianni as Marcello, a gossip writer who seeks the fleeting excesses and decadence of life and sex.

sez says: It is Post WW2 Italy and, while prosperity is beginning to return, people no longer are sure what is important.    Our hero/Marcello is on the cutting edge of fashionable culture and he won't give up the new  'freedom' (mostly sexual) that he has discovered. Meanwhile there is a woman/his regular girlfriend who loves him and who represents a more traditional life. She tried to commit suicide -- he doesn't want her to die (ie: he is unsure if he really wants to break with tradition.  But he in incapable of turning away from the lure of the fast lane. At one point he actually tells one rich-avant-garde woman that he will settle down for her..but she rejects the offer, saying all is only for the moment. In the end he is not looking too happy to me. But in the meantime there is fashion galore, stylish settings; amazing characters; style style style.  The current film NINE seems to be about Fellini's lfe --and is worth seeing in conjunction with this.  Certainly a movie to be seen.  Grade A