Product Description

Studio: Koch International Release Date: 09/21/2004 Run time: 167 minutes Rating: Nr

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3454 in DVD
• Brand: Koch International
• Released on: 2004-09-21
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Black & White, Collector's Edition, DVD-Video, Enhanced, Original recording remastered, Restored, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Italian
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 174 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
At three brief hours, La Dolce Vita, a piece of cynical, engrossing social commentary, stands as Federico Fellini's timeless masterpiece. A rich, detailed panorama of Rome's modern decadence and sophisticated immorality, the film is episodic in structure but held tightly in focus by the wandering protagonist through whom we witness the sordid action. Marcello Rubini (extraordinarily played by Marcello Mastroianni) is a tabloid reporter trapped in a shallow high-society existence. A man of paradoxical emotional juxtapositions (cool but tortured, sexy but impotent), he dreams about writing something important but remains seduced by the money and prestige that accompany his shallow position. He romanticizes finding true love but acts unfazed upon finding that his girlfriend has taken an overdose of sleeping pills. Instead, he engages in an ménage à trois, then frolics in a fountain with a giggling American starlet (bombshell Anita Ekberg), and in the film's unforgettably inspired finale, attends a wild orgy that ends, symbolically, with its participants finding a rotting sea animal while wandering the beach at dawn. Fellini saw his film as life affirming (thus its title, The Sweet Life), but it's impossible to take him seriously. While Mastroianni drifts from one worldly pleasure to another, be it sex, drink, glamorous parties, or rich foods, they are presented, through his detached eyes, are merely momentary distractions. His existence, an endless series of wild evenings and lonely mornings, is ultimately soulless and facile. Because he lacks the courage to change, Mastroianni is left with no alternative but to wearily accept and enjoy this "sweet" life. --Dave McCoy

DVD features
Like Marcello's personal odyssey through "the sweet life," this La Dolce Vita collector's edition DVD is a little bittersweet. On the one hand, the incredible film looks and sounds fantastic. It's reassuring to see La Dolce Vita received the remastering and restoration it deserves. The 2.35, anamorphic widescreen presentation shines and is virtually scratch- and smudge-free. Included along with the original mono soundtrack (the default setting) are newly remastered stereo and 5.1 surround soundtracks. The best extra on the set is easily the commentary. Richard Schickel is a film critic and historian who knows Fellini pretty well. If you have never seen La Dolce Vita, or know nothing of its background, Schickel will provide a strong, basic, overall analysis. However, if you are a fan, there is probably very little that you don't already know.

Considering La Dolce Vita was such a huge international success both financially and culturally, the extras on the second disc are a little frustrating. One would think a second disc of extras would include interviews, a new featurette on production and historical significance, maybe some press, promotional footage at the time La Dolce Vita was released, or the 1961 footage of the Academy Award presentation for Best Foreign Film. What is provided is a frustrating hodgepodge of piecemeal interviews and lost video footage that provide little insight to Fellini's classic. The "Remembering the Sweet Life" documentary is merely a 6.5-minute interview with Anita Ekberg shot in 1987 for Italian television, merged with 2 minutes of footage from 1990's Mostra di cinema di Venezia where Felllini presents Marcello Mastroianni a lifetime achievement award, a 2.5-minute interview with Marcello Mastroianni (1990), and a 2-minute clip of Fellini's Intervista in which the aged Ekberg and Mastroianni are watching themselves in La Dolce Vita. That's it! "The Cinecitta: The House of Fellini" is nothing more than a montage of video footage from Fellini's office set to music. The "Fellini, Roma and Cinecitta" interview is simply a videotaped interview of Fellini and a reporter (circa 1990) as they walk through the streets of Rome. For 6 minutes, Fellini pretty much just describes why he loves Rome. Yes, it will inspire you to take a trip to Rome, but will not tell you anything about La Dolce Vita. The bulk of the DVD extras is "Fellini TV: A Collection of Never Before Seen Shorts." At the start of the segment is a note from Fellini saying this is footage that was cut from Fred and Ginger. He does not necessarily want to show it, but if anyone does, he hopes it doesn't embarrass him. Only a hardcore Fellini fan will get very much satisfaction from this feature. --Rob Bracco

Customer Reviews

Outstanding Film.
I am a bit of a film buff, but by no means am I an expert. However, I have sat through more than one art film deemed to be brillant, that I have found to be nothing but pretentious, overrated, boring twaddle. Recognizing the huge gapping hole left in my knowledge of film history by never having seen "La Dolce Vita", I purchased this film on DVD. After I had paid my money and the DVD was on its way to my home, I had the chance to read some of the Amazon reviews of this film and I second guessed my sanity in having so blythly forked over my hard-earned funds for this film. Many Amazon reviewers called this film things like "inflated", "boring" and "overrated". "Uh-oh", I thought, "Am I in for three hours of being bored out of my tree? Fie on my need to be culturally literate!" Perhaps I would better served by watching re-runs of "Ugly Betty" than another boring, artsy film.

Upon viewing this film my biggest disappointment is that I waited this long to actually see it. My goodness, this film is simply wonderful. The opening sequence was worth the price of admission. I laughed out loud. What wit, what genius, what delicious irony, what marvelous social commentary! I know it is considered by film critics to be one of the greatest openings sequences in the history of film, but until I saw it for myself I really couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. This is where film moves away from being entertainment to art. I am still somewhat speechless as to what this movie is about -- if I could tell you, you wouldn't need to see the movie -- and you need to see this movie. Fellini's use of old Italy contrasted with new Italy is superb. His casting is absolutely flawless. This film is nihilistic and life affirming all at the same time. We are the sea monster that washes ashore with its eyes wide open. Fellini's world is tragic, and meaningless, yet there is a peculiar beauty in the human need to survive and experience all of it.

This is a spectacular film.

Unauthorized payments on Amazon
I was charged a month later for "Amazon Prime" which I did not sign up for, nor did I authorize the charge, which will cause overdrafts in my bank account. I am very displeased that Amazon would not ask me to authorize this charge or even send me an e-mail informing me of it. I have cancelled this "membership" as soon as I discovered the charge, but as it will not process for 1-2 business days, my bank account will still be overdrawn, leaving me with over $100 in NSF fees. I was told by customer service that Amazon would cover these fees if the charge could not be promptly reversed. Thank you.

Fellini's voice
La Dolce Vita is a travelogue of one man's singular and unique experience. Fellini spares us the familiar arc and keeps the journey in a steady rhythm. There has never been a film before it that has captured tragedy, comedy, music, philosophy, romance, and social commentary in such a naturalistic style, yet it could not have been done without flawless preparation. Every scene has been one way or another an influence in cinema ever since.