Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita[1] (1960) and Paolo Sorrentino’s La Grande Bellezza[2] (2013) both present the hedonistic lifestyles of failed writers turned journalists whose dreams have been derailed by the temptations and debauchery of modern...

Federico Fellini may have titled the film “Nights of Cabiria”—a title that syntactically emphasizes the nights and events in relation to, and as “acted upon,” Cabiria. Yet, perhaps more interesting than the escapades is the complexity of the...

The greatest scenes in Fellini films are often the most surreal. In 8 , Fellini depicts the creative process (and correspondingly, the creative block), a famously surreal subject in and of itself. Perhaps one of the most iconic scenes in cinematic...

A simple girl raises the instrument to her lips. Her eyes are filled with wonder, her face with laughable, caricature delight. In an instant, the trumpet is snatched away, and a strongman harshly reproaches her for the presumptuous act—“Do only...