News of Anita Ekberg’s death at 83 got Swamp Rabbit and me and other Federico Fellini fans thinking of Ekberg’s small but unforgettable role in La Dolce Vita (1960), her only good movie and one of the greatest movies ever to be shown at my shack in the Tinicum swamp.
I liked the photo of Ekberg in People magazine’s obit, but I took issue with how the writer described La Dolce Vita:
In the Fellini classic, which starred Marcello Mastroianni in what was essentially one long hedonistic romp through the Eternal City, Ekberg ignited her own eternal sex goddess image when she alluringly waded through the Fountain of Trevi in a black, strapless dress.
Calling La Dolce Vita a hedonistic romp is like calling Hamlet a revenge thriller — the description is reductive, to say the least. The movie’s anti-hero, Marcello, is an exceedingly charming fellow who parties non-stop because he can’t think of anything meaningful to do with his talents. His misery is compounded by the fact that he works as a journalist/publicist at a time when the media is evolving into an all-seeing monster that trivializes people, ideas and institutions.
“I don’t like that cat on her head,” the rabbit said as we watched Ekberg in the movie’s famous fountain scene. “But she’s one of them sex goddesses, for sure.”
I explained to the rabbit that Ekberg’s Sylvia is more than a sex goddess to Marcello. She’s the great novel he’ll never write, the undying love he’ll never experience, the faith — and faithfulness — that will forever elude him. Ultimately, she’s like the other loves in his life, in that she embodies his dread as well as his aspirations.
“Whatever you say,” the rabbit said. “But if she ain’t no sex goddess, I don’t know who is.”
I dunno odd man, I’ve seen the film many times and I’ll agree with you that People’s description was very superficial. Either I’m a class A dunce (which is quite possible) or you’re reading way more into Fellini’s vision in the film then is really there.
I’ll pull it out tonite and watch it again to see if I’ve missed anything.
But, I dunno.
P.S. As for sex goddesses I’m a Bridget Bardot fan.
One of my few celebrity sightings. I was kind of living on the streets of Rome in a summer in the mid 80’s (ran out of money there for a few weeks on a long tour of Europe) and I used to hang out at the Spanish Steps. Then comes this enourmous blonde middle aged lady in a shower curtain dress, with photographers to do a photo shoot. A few people were staring, trying to figure out whao and what was going on. I didn’t know who she was until a nearby snippy NYC tourist made a comment to her companions to the effect that it was AE and man had time not been kind to her.
Imhotep: I could make an extensive argument for why “La Dolce Vita” is a great movie, but in the end it’s a matter of personal taste. However, I do recommend re-watching it… I also prefer BB.
Guest: Time is unkind to everybody, don’t you think? Hence the phrase “the ravages of time.” Even Cary Grant got old and died, but his movies never will.
Yeah, but Cary Grant at 80 looked hella better than Anita at 50 something. And he wasn’t trying desperately to be a 350 lbs sex symbol (she showed up sorta naked in Playboy or Penthouse later that year, trying to hide her massive belly with a table cloth or something. I can’t imagine what she was thinking that year. Apparently she didn’t have any friends who cared enough to stop her).
Anita Ekberg was one of the lesser pieces on La Dolce Vita’s impressive chessboard.
And Fellini was a genius.