Straddling his early neo-realism and late-career indulgences, Fellini's 1960 portrait of a generation's spiritual slippage took him into dazzling territory.
Sure, the rampant result sprawls like a smashed socialite. But it's also utterly compelling, as Fellini traces the path of a gossip columnist (Marcello Mastroianni) from long nights to dazed dawns, via a crush on a party girl (Anita Ekberg) and longings for an intellectual life. The number of soirées on parade saps your soul after a bit, but that may well be the film's prophetic, pre-paparazzi point.
DVD Extras:
An 18-minute interview with Ekberg, who dishes the dirt on other cast members. Okay, but no docs? No historical take? With a film this big, something more could surely have been rustled up.
