by FilmInk Staff
Escape Melbourne’s winter into the glamourous excesses of 1960s Rome with Federico Fellini’s masterpiece La Dolce Vita, screening at the Capitol theatre on Swanston Street, Melbourne.
This landmark work of Italian cinema follows disillusioned journalist and failing novelist Marcello Rubini (Marcello Mastroianni) for seven days and nights as he drifts through the Eternal City in search of the “good life”. Amidst the decadence of high society during Italy’s post-war economic boom, Marcello encounters religious spectacle, hedonistic aristocrats, fading movie stars and disaffected intelligentsia, all swept up in a milieu characterised by celebrity-obsession, spiritual emptiness, and really great parties.
In a career-defining performance, Mastroianni leverages his legendary charm to deliver a character who yearns for a sense of meaning and purpose while he submits to the temptations of a glamourous and empty life. Infused with this tension of beautiful excess, the film’s most iconic images –a giant statue of Christ being flown over the city and actress Anita Ekberg’s audacious midnight romp in the Trevi Fountain– are as dazzling and provocative as ever.
Condemned by the Vatican and subjected to widespread censorship at the time of its release, La Dolce Vita was nevertheless nominated for four Academy Awards and won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1960. Today it is hailed as one of the greatest films of all time and is ranked #60 in Sight and Sound’s 2022 Greatest Films of All Time poll.
Don’t miss your chance to experience Fellini’s visionary epic on the big screen at The Capitol.
‘The Best Films You’ve Never Seen: La Dolce Vita (1960) by Federico Fellini’
When: Tuesday 22 July, 6pm
Where: The Capitol, 113 Swanston Street, Melbourne
Tickets: $10 https://www.rmit.edu.au/events/2025/july/best-films-la-dolce-vita
Presented by RMIT Culture in partnership with RMIT Cinema Studies.
