The 1957 Night of Kabylia, Federico Fellini's last black-and-white film, heralded his complete parting from neorealism, for which Bazin called it "the end of the neorealist process." Fellini followed in Bergman's footsteps, combining the elements of dreams with realistic thinking more closely, the most typical feature is to transform from describing the tragic fate of the people at the bottom of society to dissecting the decaying life and empty mind of the upper class of Roman society, the representative work is "Sweet Life" in 1960.
At that time, the entire Italian economy gradually recovered, and with the improvement of the economic situation, Fellini became more and more aware that his life was full of turmoil, and "the modern man's search for the soul" became the theme of his work, and it was also one of the ideas that the film most wanted to express.
From the perspective of the reporter Marceno, the film shows the "sweet life" of the roman high society under the state of economic recovery, which is extravagant and corrupt, and looks at the entire Roman social reality with the scene of the Via Veneto, exposing the barrenness of people's spiritual world under the development of material civilization. At this time, not only is the individual self lost, but interpersonal relationships are becoming increasingly distant, and group beliefs are severely challenged and even gradually fall. From this level, Fellini shows the social group portraits of loneliness, emptiness, fear and confusion, and metaphorically describes the absurd and bizarre restlessness and uneasiness in society through individual objects and character images, and highlights the value of salvation.
However, "La Dolce Vita" was not accepted by the public when it was released, and many mainstream media regarded it as "disgusting and obscene", and even said that he polluted all of Italy, and even Fellini's mother questioned with trepidation: "Why did you make such a film?" From an artistic point of view, this film satisfies the curiosity of many audiences, and after its release, it has poured into the theater to watch, thus making this film an international blockbuster movie. But film critics are dismissive of this, but instead spare no effort to criticize Fellini, reflecting the absurd side of the society that the film wants to express. Interestingly, the film not only won the Palme d'Or at the 13th Cannes International Film Festival, but also nominated for four awards at the 34th Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Art Director and Best Costume Design, and finally won the crown of Best Costume Design, indicating the recognition and appreciation of the film by the international film industry.
Objectively speaking, the film maintains a considerable artistic standard and the characteristics of the times in terms of conception and production, and Fellini reveals the complex insanity behind Rome's "economic miracle" with a cold and spicy tone, which contains his metaphor for the decline of Catholicism. The film's reproduction of real life unveils scars that the world does not want to mention, which triggers a panic in the consciousness of the ruling class and forms a mental suppression of him.
Below, I will start from the narrative means of the film, and deeply analyze the "self-confessional" interpersonal anatomy, multiple metaphorical connotations and the practical significance of self-redemption that Fellini wants to express, helping the audience to think more deeply about the value of this film.
As one of the pioneers of modern film, Fellini has created a new film form through the exploration of non-linear narrative structure, that is, telling stories in the way of realistic relationships and life concepts, diluting the storyline, and capturing the lifestyle and spiritual outlook of individuals in a specific social environment, which can be called "fragment conjugation structure method".
The film is composed of 12 life fragments, each of which does not have a causal relationship before, but uses the contradictions of reality, the complexity of personal spirit and the distance of interpersonal relationships to reflect the inevitability of life development, reflecting Fellini's self-confessional analysis of interpersonal relationships.
In this regard, Fellini once said, "In a sense, the film is a kind of self-confession. For five years, both because of professional needs and personal curiosity, I have lived in an environment that is very similar to the superficial excitement and real good and bad work in the film. On the face of it, some everyday events are sporty and sometimes adventurous. But when people look deeply into things, what they see is mostly emptiness, annoyance, and anxiety."
From this, it can be seen that the sorrow in Marceno's heart is the true portrayal of Fellini's heart. Marceno dreams of becoming a writer, but in the real life of a drunken fan, he is reduced to a third-rate gossip reporter, he tries to climb up the rich woman Maddalena and the big star Sylvia, ignores the waiting girlfriend Emma, abandons self-esteem and faith, suffers spiritual and moral condemnation, and pursues the illusory sense of achievement brought by Vanity Fair. In this process, every woman is hypocritical to him, and they pursue only physical revelry rather than spiritual enjoyment, which confirms the spiritual emptiness and spiritual loneliness prevalent in Roman high society.
On the one hand, Maddalena makes love to Marceno, but on the other hand, she throws herself into the arms of other men. Sylvia lamented in public that "what I value most is love, love, love", but what she shows is that she treats men as frivolous toys, and her love for stray kittens is more than Marceno, who accompanies her day and night, and its ironic meaning is self-evident. Only Emma, who is full of human brilliance, is bored and rejected by Marceno, thus showing Fellini's deep anxiety about the loss of the individual mind in modern society.
Looking at Fellini's works, we can actually find that his attention to the individual mind and the analysis of interpersonal relationships are in the same line. Wanda in "The White Chief" is the female version of Marceno, she has a considerate husband but is attached to the obsession with the White Chief, showing the individual spiritual loneliness and the indifferent relationship between people; the false and fragile character of Zambano in "The Great Road" leads to Jessomina's emotional trauma and eventual destruction, interpreting the relationship of distrust between people and the binary opposition between spiritual innocence and evil; August in "The Liar" shows a contradictory, wandering, fearful, and helpless mentality when examining the internal parallel deception. He does not trust anyone, let alone let anyone into his heart, thus constituting the root of his spiritual emptiness; the innocence and kindness of Kabylia in "The Night of Kabylia" reflects the deceptive and ugly nature of human nature, which is not only a tragedy of personal fate, but also a product of the times forced by the social environment. In this film, Marceno and the seven-night carnival of four women are full of criticism of corrupt society and reflections on the extravagant and lavish life, Marceno is not fundamentally different from the protagonist in his previous works, the only difference is that his journalistic identity can peek into the perspective of high society, which stems from Fellini's experience of traveling around Europe after becoming famous, and being able to explore a completely different class lifestyle.
The "sweet" in "Sweet Life" has a strong ironic meaning, Fellini extremely despises this way of life, sweetness means power, money, status, but it leads to the loss of individual self and the alienation of interpersonal relationships, revealing a self-confessional inner monologue, at the same time of economic development, the beauty of the individual mind gradually drifts away, thus pointing to the fall of the spirit of modern civilization.
Fellini's films are full of dream-like poetic expressions, such illusory scenes often create unreal feelings, the whole story is like a gorgeous and fantastic dream, but in the dream, every object and character is really empathetic. Fellini is not willing to break people's expectations for a better life, but he wants to express his inner worries about the spiritual collapse of modern civilization, so he expresses the uneasiness and restlessness under the absurd world through the connotation of scenes, objects and characters.
(1) The removal of the statue of Jesus means a lack of faith
The film opens with the most classic shot in film history, the plane hangs a huge statue of Jesus and flies to St. Peter's Church, Marceno looks at several young girls on the ground, they exclaim "Look, Jesus", Marceno flirts with the girl in the air, through the indulgence of Jesus' gaze, heralding the prophecy of "God is dead", indicating the lack of traditional belief, and this is just the beginning, the appearance of Jesus shows that the entire dream story is under his gaze but there is no way, the consumption of modern civilization is supreme, Hedonism is thriving, and no one cares about the power of faith, which is a big reason for spiritual emptiness.
(2) The dead big fish heralds the abandonment of modern civilization by faith
The big fish echoes the statue of Jesus in the opening chapter, forming another confirmation of the lack of faith. The Greek word for "fish" is taken apart to mean "Jesus, savior", the fish symbolizes the power of faith, the fisherman says "it has been dead for three days", here it implies that Jesus was buried for three days, the eyes on the big fish are empty and godless, silently looking at people who have lost their spiritual homes, and its death indicates the abandonment of modern civilization by faith. In addition, the upper class of the corrupt life does not care about the deterioration of the environment at all, and the death of the big fish also shows the disharmonious relationship between man and the environment.
(3) The holy Paola calls for the salvation of the spiritual world
The young girl Paola is fresh, rustic and spotless, and in the film, she constitutes a very different world from the pompous world. Marceno was captivated by her freshness and vulgarity, forgetting the troubles of writing and the vulgar indulgence. Paola represents love and redemption, she maintains spiritual purity, she says", "It's good here, but I don't like it here, I want to go home." I saw one of our cars on Sunday and I was homesick and crying." Paola's abandonment of the bustling world reflects the true nature of the heart, and she is not blinded by the vulgarity of the world, but strives to get rid of this bondage. Before Marceno indulged, she had also called out to him across a stream, but Marceno could not hear her words clearly, her call was more like a redemption of the spiritual world, but unfortunately the world's values had been completely corrupted and they had lost the will to listen.
(3) Steiner's death interprets the meaning of "happiness"
Steiner has a happy family, children and daughters, guests are endless, can be described as "talking and laughing, there is no white ding", Marceno envied this life, but in the stability but there is a danger lurking, his suicide after killing two children shows that his apparent stability implies anxiety about life, he likes to include the sounds of nature in the phonograph, but also indicates that his death is the result of modern civilized society out of nature, the loneliness of individuals makes it more and more difficult to communicate with people, The soul, which has nowhere to live, becomes the last straw that crushes him, symbolizing the tragic end of the individual's struggle against society.
There are inextricable connections between these objects and characters, constituting the ukiyo-e of the spiritual fall of modern civilization, which not only intends to emphasize the richness and variety of the individual spiritual world, but also to strengthen the smooth communication between people and the harmonious coexistence between man and nature, which are closely related to the development of modern civilization and deserve our attention and thinking.
Fellini seems to describe Marceno's pursuit of fame and fortune and the extravagance of the upper class, but the deeper intention is to show the role of religious belief in the collapse of group beliefs. It is precisely because of the lack of faith that the individual's soul is lost, and the destination of the soul can only be pinned on the numb and ugly commercial society, behind the indulgence and pleasure is a helpless bitterness, showing the valuable value of salvation.
Fellini once said that "the film is an oil painting, even a fresco, which shows a collapse of catastrophe, a collapse of luxury and luxury: the decline of the Catholic Empire". In contrast, there is the method of saving people's hearts: "At the center of the interconnected levels of reality, God can be found, and I think God is the key to unlocking the mysteries."
Rome as an ancient religious country, religious beliefs are rooted in the hearts of every people, it is the spiritual beliefs and codes of conduct of people's will and action, there is a "Virgin Apparition" bridge section in the film, Roman citizens flocked to the "Virgin Apparition" after learning of the "Virgin Apparition", reverently waiting for the blessing of the Virgin Mary to come again, but a heavy rain unexpectedly encountered, two children said that they saw the Virgin, leading the crowd to run around like headless flies, suddenly the crowd was boiling, traffic jams, the scene was chaotic, This is the true reflection of the hearts of people who lack faith, they regard the Virgin as a magic weapon, and even the Virgin as a panacea from life, old age, illness and death, showing the emptiness and loneliness of their hearts, Fellini is sarcastic about such an absurd farce, thus expressing the decay of religion.
There is also a metaphor in the film that hints at the importance of spiritual beliefs. When Marceno takes the female star Sylvia to visit St. Peter's Church, Sylvia dressed as a priest, like a female pope, she was going to kiss Marceno, but was blown away by a crooked wind, Sylvia became a stripped priest, thus symbolizing the return of the power of the Catholic faction to the hands of social groups. But marceno was not kissed at this time, which meant that he had been abandoned by power, foreshadowing his next tragic fate. Then at the Trevi Fountain, when Sylvia sprinkled the Holy Water of the Catholic Church on Marceno's head, the spring suddenly stopped, also indicating that Marceno had not received God's grace, that the Catholic faith could not affect his soul, and foreshadowed the absence of spiritual faith and the intensification of self-loss.
Marceno's last villa revelry vividly shows his self-abandonment attitude, from personal disorientation to the collapse of group beliefs, pictorial religious decay reflects the decadent lifestyle of the upper class, fellini through religious representation, the purpose is to see through the decline of the Catholic Empire after the collapse of social group beliefs and the meaning of redemption behind it. Only after knowing themselves can people reflect on the problems that exist in society, so the film wants to express the redemption of the soul after prosperity.
It is precisely because of the gradual loss of individuals and groups that faith is more precious, and the lonely and lonely soul in the dead of night should be corrected with a healthy lifestyle and correct values, and cannot give up the dream of becoming a first-class writer like Marceno, and fall into despair and throw themselves into the embrace of luxurious "sweet life".
"La Dolce Vita" is an eternal fable of modern society, through Marceno's life experience to depict a strange And colorful Roman society, constituting a dream-like unique art world, from which you can glimpse the projection of the contradictions of Roman society, feel the heavy depth of the hearts of the masses and the desire for redemption. Fellini uses the fragment conjugation structure method to form a self-confessional analysis of interpersonal relationships, highlighting the loss of the individual self and the alienation of interpersonal relationships, and behind the "sweet" life is Fellini's bitter thinking about modern civilization and society.