Divided into seven eposodes, along with a prologue, epilogue and intermezzo, Fellini's sixth feature as sole director cemented his position as on of Italy's pre-eminent filmakers. La Dolce Vita ('The Sweet Life') kept its Italian title when released overseas, and follows the exploits of Marcello Mastroianni's cool, sunglasses-wearing columnist Marcello Rubini, whose work for gossip magazines finds him journeying through Rome's nightlife and mixing with its fashionistas - minor aristocrats, socialites, movie stars and models. Unfolding over seven days and nights, the film shifts between the heady atmosphere of non-stop parties to the cold light of reality as Rubini travels, often through the fug of alcohol consumption, between them. Recording the various women Rubini encounters and seduces, or who spurn him, is the photographer played by Walter Santesso. The character's name, Paparazzo, soon became common parlance for all intrusive celebrity snappers. (Ian Smith, The Short Story of Film)
"A pageant of modern life and spiritual disconnection. The film that conquered the world." - Martin Scorcese
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