La Dolce Vita
Koch Lorber Films
Unrated

Review by: Larry Thomas

Another film masterpiece has recently made its DVD debut. The 1950s and 60s were the pinnacle of creative, ground-breaking foreign films. They had to come up with some new adjectives when Federico Fellini unleashed La Dolce Vita in 1960.

This three-hour magnum opus about the decadence of contemporary life affected (and still affects) filmmakers around the world. Starring Fellini's alter-ego, Marcello Mastroianni, along with Anita Ekberg (who can forget the images of her cavorting in the Trevi Fountain at night), Anouk Aimee, Lex Barker, and many others, this is being released as a massive three-disc set, which includes a 40-page collector's book, five 5x7 photo cards, and an 11x17-inch limited edition poster.

The disc extras include an introduction by writer-director Alexander Payne; commentary by film historian Richard Schickel; a collection of never-before-seen Fellini shorts; interviews with Mastroianni and Ekberg; Cinecitta: The House of Fellini, a musical montage of Fellini's beloved studio; an interview with Fellini; a documentary on composer Nino Rota; a photo gallery and more.

Whip up a nice pasta dish, uncork a large bottle of chianti, and prepare to immerse yourself in enjoying "the sweet life." Oh yeah...it's filmed in my favorite format: black-and-white CinemaScope. Wow!