So, I found this movie very, very boring. All it did was follow this guy Marcello around for a few days. I had no idea who half of the characters were; they show up once for like a few minutes, then appeared hours later in some major plot development, got mass amounts of screen time, and all the while I was like, "Who is this?" When Marcello met Steiner for the first time in the Church, I couldn't figure out how they new each other. When Marcello when to the party, I didn't even recognize or remember who Steiner was. There was absolutely no plot development whatsoever (Was there even a plot??? I don't know), no rising action, no climax, nothing. It was extremely dull.
I have no idea what the theme of the movie is, I have no idea what the movie is about. If I had to pick something, I would probably say romance or finding ones way in life. Marcello is surrounded by all these women, and is taken in by each of them. He has a fiance, Emma,but can't help sleeping around with all these other women, because he frankly considers she is smothering him with love. Emma also mentions that one day she and Marcello while have a life like Steiner, however, Steiner tells Marcello that he feels as if his life is empty, and he lost all ambition.
The one scene in the film that I consider an essential moment is when Emma and Marcello have a fight, and he drives away leaving her on the road. The scene contains various Medium and Long/Establishing Shots, which offer intriguing views of the actors, as well as the barren surroundings in which they find themselves. By showing this type of landscape, with no noticeable nearby town or passers by, audience members become even more shock at the idea of Marcello abandoning Emma there.
I agree with your opinion on the characters, I said something similar in my blog. Some of the time I forgot who was whom, and their roles were barely defined. it made the viewing confusing at times.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your choice of the essential moment. The shot choices definitely enhanced the scene.
I agree with you that there is no essential plot of the film in a typical movie-sense where there's some sort of act structure and the audience is introduced to certain people, places, or things because they play some sort of huge significance in the overall story so that makes watching La Dolce Vita very difficult. I had the same trouble when I first viewed 8 1/2 a few years ago and then I got some interesting advice from the internet that told me to try to think of it as a series of stories, or vignettes that follow around the main character and make it an overall character study. If you ever decide to re-watch the film that might be a helpful tool in trying to find some sort of logical sequence in it. You did a good job understanding the importance of the seen with Marcello and Emma and what Fellini is trying to communicate through the use and sequence of shots so it might even be a little easier the second time around, whenever that may be.
ReplyDeleteI am struck by how formulaic our sense of proper narrative is when I view a TV show like Law and Order. When a new character walks on scene, it never fails but someone just happens to summarize his past in one pithy sentence so that we can relax and not wonder anymore. When a detail is important, the camera rests on it for a while, before cutting to a commercial, so that we know that the plot will lead in that direction. There are no events included that are not vital to the plot. It could never happen that a main character's kitchen stove catches fire just because (like in real life); rather it happens so that they can go to the hospital for smoke inhalation and meet a former lover in the emergency room. For me, this is a tired system of signifying. I am energized by Fellini's courage to try a new sort of structure. It gives the viewer some work to do. I like that. Ben's idea is good too - it's almost like a bunch of poems all on a common theme - worth seeing one more time, if you are willing.
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