5
La Dolce Vita
“the sweet life” /“the sweetness of life”
By Frederico Fellini
La Dolce Vita is the title of Italian film director, Federico Fellini's, ground-breaking 1960 satire. It was, at the time, regarded as one of the most stylish movies ever made - putting Italian cinema firmly on the world stage.
The film, starring Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg, made Rome THE destination to visit and made many people aspire to drive a Lambretta or a Vespa, wear exclusive fashion along with sunglasses (at night!), drink cappuccino and generally hang out on the streets, even when it was pouring with rain! One of the characters in the film, Paparazzo, provided the inspiration for the term "paparazzi" - to describe photographers making a living from their (sometimes unwanted) shots of celebrities.
Not everyone was so enamoured with the film, with some condemning if for placing a spotlight on corruption, debauchery, perversion, and aimlessness among the ‘high society’.