There is substantial meaning in Mastroianni's seven-day journey through the "sweet life" of Rome. It is no less than a search for meaning in life. Mastroianni learns it is not to be found in his idol Steiner, whose intellectual pretension masks the same fears he has. The film leaves itself open to interpretation. Does it expose the hollow core of idealism, or merely reflect a world we already know? The sweet life is an illusion, but the journey to attain it is very real.

(2nd viewing) A film showcasing glitz and glamour, this is indeed "The Sweet Life". The ending perfectly mirrors the extravagant decadence of its shallow characters, the latter not necessarily working in the film's advantage, as spending 3 hours with them becomes a drag. Luckily, Fellini infuses his film with great dialogue, memorable images and moments of beautifully profound humanism . Quite unique indeed, recommended !

I didn't feel very much throughout the 3 hours of this film. Disappointing after 8 1/2

Perhaps the finest allegory in film. Marcello, shadows the eternal diva through Rome to within an inch of her lips yet leaves with a hook to the gut. This is followed by the people of Rome chasing the Madonna through the fervor of belief and childish giggles. Fellini takes us tantalizingly close to both women leaving us expectant that each will submit to the will of their followers but we are left with Fellini's own divine doubts to mull over and in turn his detachment from a life of lost cause.

I've given this two complete watches, and it still never clicked for me. Don't get me wrong, there are moments of profundity and brilliance in this film, but they are interspersed between long periods where nothing much interesting happens. Yes, some of the episodes are simply not interesting. In my view, this film could easily be half the length and twice as good. I'm not hating on long films, but in this case Fellini's sharp, powerful message gets diluted after too many monotonous scenes.

I couldn't possibly fault this; it's full of astonishing sequences, it never bores in its three hour length, and Marcello is the height of cool. I don't know, though - I realise the idea is that his life feels empty, but... that just makes the film feel empty. It's very emotionless.

I have dreams in black and white where I kill everyone in this film, brutally. Everyone.

A little too long, but overall a real treat.

23

Self-indulgent? Of course. It's Fellini.