La Dolce Vita

This is famous for the scene with Anita Ekberg dancing in the fountain at the bottom of the Spanish Steps in Rome. In 1960 it was fairly risque. Probably the most famous scene in the history of Italian cinema infact. The film was quite daring at the time for its depiction of hedonistic life.

The story features around Marcello, a self indulgent playboy journalist who hangs about with celebrities and rich people engaging in parties and sex. When a famous film star (Ekberg) comes to Rome he becomes obsessed with her.

La Dolce Vita is part satire but part celebration of the hedonism and has some dark undercurrents and a heavy ending. A bit patchy and self indulgent in places but a reminder why Fellini is the inspiration for so many talented directors today - the real star of the film is Fellini's 'auteur' direction with a series of amazing hallucinatory sequences including the opening which shows a statue of Jesus flown across the city as Marcello and his journo mates party in a helicopter and wave to sexy women below.

Rome also looks beautiful throughout and it was one of the main reasons why I first wanted to visit Rome. Sadly the Dolce nightclub of the title is now closed but you can visit the location still.