La Dolce Vita (1960)

Grappling with what to write about this, I recognize that I probably don’t understand the great majority of what the film is trying to say. Marcello Mastroianni is a journalist who is always searching for the next thing: the next big story, the next woman who excites him, the next thing that’ll bring him the best that life has to offer. Told in episodes that proceed over the course of some portion of time, he ages and progresses on this journey, using the males in his life as inspiration and caution. Every day with potential leads to an exciting, electric night that turns into the grey reality of morning. I love watching Mastroianni move, there’s a cool European smoothness, but also a bit of self-deprecation in the way he hunches his shoulders as if he’s hoping these things will just come to him. Anita Ekberg’s fountain scene is iconic for so many reasons, she exuberates with those best parts of life, fully engrossing in everything life has to offer.

Oscar Win: Best Costume Design, Black-and-White

Oscar Nominations: Best Director; Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White