I didn't care very much for this movie while I was watching it, but while taking a walk and thinking about it right after, I was able to discern the picture's message, even if it wasn't a very uplifting one. It seems like Fellini was going for alienation and a search for meaning, and without knowing anything about the director, I would venture to say that the picture was autobiographical to a large degree. I could be totally off base, but that's the impression I got.
Most of the characters in the story are fairly pathetic, including the principal player Marcello (Marcello Mastroianni). They engage in self absorbed, hedonistic behavior, living only for today with little regard for anything other than self gratification. The exceedingly fleeting nature of fame and notoriety is given short shrift with the frantic buzzing of the paparazzo running around in circles trying to capture the next big headline or lurid photo for their tabloids. So it comes as a shock when the one seemingly serious character in the story, Steiner (Alain Cuny), proves to be the one who can't cope with his life of achievement and intellectual pursuit and ends it in tragedy. All rather depressing if you think about it.
I guess the main thing that bothered me while watching the story was how random Marcello's day to day encounters turned out to be. There didn't seem to be a sense of continuity to his life and maybe that was the point. Unable to find fulfillment in his relationship with Emma (Yvonne Furneaux), Marcello simply bounced around accepting whatever life handed him on a particular day instead of seeking out something meaningful.
The one character that I was able to identify with most was the young working girl in the café who didn't want to be there. At least she had a purpose in her situation, it was to get out of there when her father finished his job. I got the idea that she might have been smitten by Marcello's attention in complimenting her, which is why I was left somewhat dismayed when she waved to him near the end of the story while standing on the beach. I replayed it a couple of times, and it looked like she was mouthing 'love you' to Marcello, though of course he was too far away to see or hear her. For her to connect with Marcello would have been an unintended consequence waiting to turn into another hopeless situation if that were to happen.
Most of the characters in the story are fairly pathetic, including the principal player Marcello (Marcello Mastroianni). They engage in self absorbed, hedonistic behavior, living only for today with little regard for anything other than self gratification. The exceedingly fleeting nature of fame and notoriety is given short shrift with the frantic buzzing of the paparazzo running around in circles trying to capture the next big headline or lurid photo for their tabloids. So it comes as a shock when the one seemingly serious character in the story, Steiner (Alain Cuny), proves to be the one who can't cope with his life of achievement and intellectual pursuit and ends it in tragedy. All rather depressing if you think about it.
I guess the main thing that bothered me while watching the story was how random Marcello's day to day encounters turned out to be. There didn't seem to be a sense of continuity to his life and maybe that was the point. Unable to find fulfillment in his relationship with Emma (Yvonne Furneaux), Marcello simply bounced around accepting whatever life handed him on a particular day instead of seeking out something meaningful.
The one character that I was able to identify with most was the young working girl in the café who didn't want to be there. At least she had a purpose in her situation, it was to get out of there when her father finished his job. I got the idea that she might have been smitten by Marcello's attention in complimenting her, which is why I was left somewhat dismayed when she waved to him near the end of the story while standing on the beach. I replayed it a couple of times, and it looked like she was mouthing 'love you' to Marcello, though of course he was too far away to see or hear her. For her to connect with Marcello would have been an unintended consequence waiting to turn into another hopeless situation if that were to happen.