I thought that the last scene, on the beach, was one of the most beautiful scenes ever made. To paraphrase what I said on another thread, it's the most astoundingly existential scenes I've ever seen, with Marcello ultimately going on the path of debauchery.
What did everyone else think?
http://www.ymdb.com/daniel-glassman/l34590_ukuk.html
I am interested to know if you would consider Marcello a "knight of resignation".
Or is he a knight at all?
I guess before I answer that I need to know just what a "knight of resignation" is...
http://www.ymdb.com/daniel-glassman/l34590_ukuk.html
Sorry, I was trying to pick things up from the existential angle.
This is related to the Kierkegaard notion of having one defining purpose in life, whether it be a person or a cause. Kierkegaard speaks of it analogously as "a princess". Another example he uses is that of Abraham and Isaac (Isaac being the defining purpose.) One of Kierkegaards central questions is how "the knight" handles things when they find this princess. The first realisation the knight has is that they have suddenly become vulnerable - that is, if this thing that defines them is somehow damaged or destroyed, then their identity suffers in equal measure. So the "knight of resignation" sets up protections against this, thereby preserving the defining purpose in a safe way.
It's all very complex stuff and I'm sure my paraphrasing makes very little sense. But it is very rewarding. If interested, I would direct you to read "Fear and Trembling" by Soren Kierkegaard. You can even listen to lecture notes on the book here http://webcast.berkeley.edu/courses/archive.php?seriesid=1906978306
Anyways, I believe that at the end of LDV, Marcello turns away from his "defining purpose". He decides not to be a "knight". I don't think this is "a bad thing". In fact, it takes immense courage - but I maintain that it is a conscious decision.
Wow. That's the awesomest thing EVER. I will definitely look into that.
http://www.ymdb.com/daniel-glassman/l34590_ukuk.html
My favorite scene is when Maddalena (I think thats her name) confesses her love to him!! But then that guys starts kissing her???? Whats that about?
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I quite agree that it's beautiful, but to be honest I'm a little lost as to the sea creature thingie and the little girl. Why do they show up? This is also the first Fellini film I've ever seen, and in general I'm a new comer to "older films that actually have meanings to them" and their interpretations. All I know is the ending gave me the creeps in that beautiful way, but I can't quite understand why.
shareI completely agree with you! Believe it or not, that final scene chnaged
my life fully! I became a new man and all my friends noticed the change
in me and admitted it!
Wow. I haven't really let it sink in enough, as I just watched it a few days ago, but already I'm seeing distinct parallels between that scene and my life at the moment. Just thinking about it gives me a huge rise of emotion...
This movie is ACTUALLY (no seriously, like ACTUALLY) the best movie ever.
http://www.ymdb.com/daniel-glassman/l34590_ukuk.html
Some of my thoughts about the ending.
I saw this film about a month ago, so I don't remember all of the details. But did anyone think that the sea represented "the sweet life" that Marcello and his friends were living. The dead sea creature represented everyone who couldn't survive "the sweet life". Also, the sea was what separated Marcello from the girl, meaning that they had completely different lifestyles and he ended up choosing to go with his friends and leave her behind. Any other thoughts?
I don't know about the sea representing the sweet life. I think that his high-society friends are the sweet life, the girl on the other side is the respectable life, and the area in between is supposed to be like, the trials he has to go through to achieve a more respectable life. Of course, he turns his back on her, going with his weird, sexual friends, and thereby descending into the sweet life.
http://www.ymdb.com/daniel-glassman/l34590_ukuk.html
I agree with what you are saying about the final scene but the sea creature which is what looks like a very large sting ray and that they same has come from Australia (which they do), and they keep mentioning its eyes and what is it looking at then we see that it is looking at Marcello that it is judging him and that it has been on a journey (Australia to Italy) but also Marcello has been on a journey throughout film and now he has to choose between debautary and excess or the 'Respectable life' but he chooses the debautary and excess(friends) instead of the girl (respectable life) which now could lead him into the same situation as the sting ray, trapped and maybe eventually dead.
shareoooooh, excellent analysis timelbery. I hadn't thought of that.
http://www.ymdb.com/daniel-glassman/l34590_ukuk.html
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I liked the scene when Marcello is arguing with his GF on the dark road in his car.
You can really feel both of their frustrations leap off the screen. I felt it was one of the few emotionally charged scenes in the film. Can't believe no one mentioned this!
Remembering that Fellini was raised a Catholic, the sea creature can also represent another image of Christ, a bookend to the opening scene of the Christ statue being flown into Rome. The Christ over Rome is beautiful but artificial; the Christian fish is ugly but real. Note that it's brought into shore in a net, by a group of peasants -- "I shall make you fishers of men." But it's not a living thing; it's dead & decaying, a monster. In that regard, it might also be considered as Marcello's soul.
What especially makes that scene so powerful is when the girl moves her head slightly, from looking at Marcello to looking at us, the viewers ...
I thought that was a beautiful scene, but I have to be cliched and say that my favorites were the scenes where Sylvia was dancing with Frankie at the club and when she is walking in the fountain. Anita Ekberg is such a beautiful woman, and even though she isn't in the film for that long, she leaves a lasting impression.
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I think the last scene is kind of bizarre, I don't think I totally understood it. I thought that when he was in the cafe earlier in the movie with the girl that she was flirting with him, and that it wasn't really innocent. So then when the end of the movie came, and it looked to me like the script was trying to set up the image of Marcello turning his back on the innocent girl or just innocence in general, it didn't really ring true to me since the girl didn't appear to me to be a saint either. Maybe I'm wrong though, I'd like some clarification though. I was more detached from it when I watched it, since it was just kind of like "this is what happened at the end of the party," not as weighted down in heavy philosophy as some people may have thought. Not saying anyones right or wrong, just curious. My favorite scene by far was where Marcello and the photographers go to the wife of the man who killed himself and she gets excited for a moment because she thinks they are mistaking her for an famous actress, it was really tragic.
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The fountain-scene I guess. I think the whole episode with his father was also highly symbolic. It represents the downfall and sickness of the way of life which they all live.
In general I liked every scene that includes this wonderful sound
Steiner's party has been my favorite for now several viewings. The vast assortment of characters, each spilling out their pointless little stories. The soft music in the background. Marcello's girlfriend being obnoxiously loud and overbearing. Marcello ideally spouting off his hopes for future writing. The recorded sounds of nature. Steiner taking all of it in attentively. The entrance of his children bringing life to the party.
The whole scene is so relaxed, indifferent, unimportant. It captures perfectly the pleasantries of aimless drifting and the self-importance these people are blinded by. It's so intoxicating that I enjoy watching mostly for simply being there, and the scene is thus a perfect synopsis of the film.
All great scenes mentioned, so I thought I would add the press conference scene, especially when the Italian asks her if she thinks Italian Neo-Realist Cinema is alive or dead, and Sylvia's trans;lator says to her "say alive" without translating.
Almost every other press conference scene done afterwards seems like an homage to this. I can think of the one in THE DOORS, any others? (Godard's press conference scene from one year earlier, BREATHLESS, with Jean Seberg and Jean-Pierre Melville, was different, but not so so much).
I totally agree with you. And in some ways you find yourself alarmed at just how intoxicating the party is. Its unimportant (although the children do make it feel a bit warmer), and vapid, but at the same time, it is just alluring enough to make you want to be there. And I really wouldn't want to be. Marcello really shines in that scene I think. A lot of character development without being obvious.
And of course I love the fountain/kitty scene. And those opening shots are just gorgeous.
I really liked the Steiner dinner party too, but to me this scene stands out because it conveys a sense of security and peace that is absent in the previous scenes... the party guests are calm and intellectual, talking about art and literature and listening to exotic music, and it seems as though they've acheived a sort of understanding and appreciation of the world, while the other characters seem completely lost in it or oblivious to any higher truth or beauty. What these people are saying seems important, and their lofty dialogue draws in the viewer searching for meaning within the film, which is itself a work of art, just as it draws in and seduces Marcello. But really what they're saying doesn't lead us any closer to any sort of meaning or fulfillment (like the poem the English poetess recites as Steiner and Marcello recede into the nursery--merely a list of superficial items strung together to sound important), and Steiner throws the illusion into doubt when he expresses to Marcello his uneasiness with this quiet life, only to completely break it later when he commits the murder-suicide.
I never thought of the children bringing life to the party, but I did notice one really weird thing in this scene: when the sound of a loud, harsh wind that seems like it would be heard on a desolate plain or bleak rocky coast plays on Steiner's record of nature sounds, Marcello's girlfriend says something like "Ah! It's a forest!"--and then in the midst of this eerie, unsettling noise, the two children appear in the doorway. For a moment the feeling of comfort and security created by the living room scene is shattered, and then Steiner turns the record off. At that moment I remember thinking that something bad is going to happen to those children... and then I didn't think about it again until later on in the movie when Steiner's family re-enters the story. Chilling!