Day 25: "La Dolce Vita"

Director: Federico Fellini 1960
The film starts with a giant statue of Jesus--arms outstretched--suspended from a helicopter whirling across Rome. It ends with the maIn character, a reporter-turned-publicist played by Marcello Mastroianni, getting a chance at redemption--and blowing it. In between, Fellini offers many wonderful, extended scenes, notably the circus-like atmosphere that attends a rural field after two children claim they have seen the Virgin Mary. Mastroianni aspires to be a novelist, but he hasn't the inner strength to break free of the shallow world of the rich and their sycophants. He is a prisoner who will never escape.