La dolce vita has been a phenomenon since before it was made, a scandal in the making and on release and a reference point ever since. Much of what made it notorious was its incorporation of real people, events and lifestyles, making it a documentation of its time. It uses performance, camera movement, editing and music to produce a striking aesthetic mix of energy and listlessness, of exuberance and despair. This study will consider each of these aspects of the film - phenomenon, document, aesthetic - and argue that they are connected

Author Biography

Richard Dyer is Professor of Film Studies at King's College, London. His books include Seven and Brief Encounter in the BFI Film Classics series and Nino Rota (BFI, 2010).