Feel sorry for people who can't understand sophistication

The implication seems to be that if you don't like this film (which I find to be little more than a lazy Fellini knockoff) then you are an "unsophisticated" idiot.

I'm reminded that my uncle LOVED this movie enough to see it twice. I asked him what he thought about Fellini and he wasn't familiar with the name. That's what I call a shame.

The issue you raise is of course a valid one, but not really a new one. I've studied the movie history somewhat, and this same discussion goes on throughout the decades. Most moviegoers of the 40's hated Citizen Kane, for example. The biggest difference is, back then the studio system was run by movie professionals who sometimes actually wanted to try and create something more meaningful - despite the fact that mass audiences didn't like it.

The movie "bad and the beautiful" from the 50s is a perfect demonstration of this. It is supposed to be critical towards the movie industry, but nowdays we'd stand in awe if there was any room at all left for a wacky manipulative movie-producing genius like the one played by Kirk Douglas, who actually wants to create something big with the camera!

Nowdays the whole production is managed by big multinational corporations whose main focus is directed toward movie merchandise etc. This shift of focus took place in the 80's when the studios were bought by bigger corporations, and since then the whole industry has been going downhill, with a few exceptions here and there. This has not destroyed creativity entirely, but creativity has been spread out: gone are the days when the literary geniuses all over the world went to Hollywood to write movie scripts.

As a result, sophisticated films are maybe not more rare, but they are less evenly distributed. They can still be found, though. Furthermore, we see a more clear division between "mainstream films" and "art films", thus polarizing both film styles further away from each other. I am very upset about this particular developement, because it is bad not only for mainstream films, but for art films as well: as they tend to polarize on the other end of the spectrum, they become more and more cryptic and abstract for the average viewer to enjoy. (Look at the big classics of the 40's and 50's - they were definately more accessable to the public even though they kept their artistic integrity!)

I don't think creativity in itself is going anywhere as it is a basic human need even during the era of smartphones. But you have to look behind the number-one box office hits. Right now I'm enjoying European cinema as well as American independent film greatly. There is also good stuff coming from Asia. These movies have not made an implicit separation between mainstream and art categories, they are moderately easy to follow yet complex and multi-layered in meaning, which is what I find most enjoyable.

This movie is not the bible. It at best is art and at worst a bunch of disconnected scenes that hardly make sense.

To me it is an interesting film that is easy to like because the lead character is super cool, the film is shot in Rome with all of the trimmings and there is a lot of nudity and witty dialog. This is pretty par for the course to me that makes a good film. They did not stray far from the stuff men like. If you think about it long enough it is not all the sophisticated if you have a stripper-with-the-heart-of-gold and old-man-looking-for-his-lost youth. Again...it might be a bit cliché hidden behind very slick editing, beautiful music...and the superb Italian language.

With that said...I feel the same as you...but not at the people but at the movie directors and studio's. Give me, chatfan and others like us movies we can engage our mind into.