La Dolce Vita follows a journalist named Marcello Rubini who travels through seven days and nights of "the sweet life" in search of life and love and happiness (which is the title of the film in English). The film is structured in a unique way: a prologue, seven main episodes, an intermezzo (interlude in Italian), and an epilogue.
The prologue of the film chronicles the first day of the man's journey. It transports readers into a helicopter with the film's main character, Marcello Rubini, who is following another helicopter which is transporting a statue of Christ over an old Roman-era aqueduct. The statue is on the way to Saint Peter's Square, but Marcello is sidetracked when he sees a group of women in bikinis on the beach. Marcello attempts to get their phone numbers, but is unsuccessful and asks his helicopter to continue on to Saint Peter's Square.
During the first episode, Marcello meets a woman named Maddalena. The two have sex and Marcello leaves and returns to his fiancée, Emma. Emma has overdosed on drugs. Marcello rides with Emma on her way to the hospital and he professes his love to her and tells her that he will never think of or be with another woman. But he makes a call to Maddalena, betraying his promise.
In the second episode of the film, Marcello goes on an assignment and meets a famous Swedish-American actress named Sylvia, who Marcello invites on a tour of Saint Peter's Square. Marcello initially keeps his promise to Emma, but works his way into a private room with Sylvia, who he quickly lusts after. The two spend the rest of their night together, walking through Rome and finding themselves in Trevi Fountain. The two return to Sylvia's hotel, where her fiancée meets them and attacks Marcello (and Sylvia).
In the third episode of the film, Marcello meets up with his friend Steiner in a church. There, Steiner shows Marcello his book of the Sanskrit alphabet and the two play a jazz piece (and Bach) together.
Then, in the fourth episode of the film, Marcello, Emma, and Marcello's friend Paparazzo drive to the outskirts of Rome to chronicle the story of two children who claim to have come into contact with Madonna, Jesus' mother. Eventually, the crowd leaves after a young boy is killed.
The intermezzo begins, Marcello begins to work on his novel at a seaside restaurant. There, he meets a young woman named Paola, who Marcello describes as an "angel." He asks her if she has a boyfriend, and the scene ends.
Marcello's father comes to visit him in the fifth episode of the film. The two go out clubbing, and Marcello sees a young dancer named Fanny, who takes a liking to his father. Fanny asks Marcello's father to come back to her house and he obliges, but Marcello's father has a small heart attack, frightening Fanny. Marcello asks his father to stay with him, but his father doesn't listen to him and returns home.
In the sixth episode of the film, Marcello sees Maddalena once again in a castle. There, Maddalena asks Marcello to marry her. Marcello, however, doesn't respond to her proposition and she quickly loses interest in him.
In the seventh, and final full-length episode, Marcello then goes to a party and tries to coax partygoers into engaging in an orgy. The orgy, however, never happens. And the party descends into mayhem and chaos.
In the film's epilogue, Marcello and his group of friends go to the beach, where they come face-to-face with a leviathan, whose eyes Marcello says look like "death." This scene draws inspiration from mythology and the stories of the aforementioned leviathan and Medusa.
La Dolce Vita is a film about a life of excess and the life of someone who is devoid of meaning. The film is also about redemption, fame, pleasure, love, lust, and the power of love and lust. Fundamentally, though, the film is about myth and how and why society moves from old myths to new myths—and how those myths are created.
Fellini's film is also an allegory for the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. At a basic level, the film is set in Rome. But the allegory is deeper and richer. Initially, Rome was a prosperous nation because of innovation and because its citizens adhered to a basic moral code. Eventually, Roman society became corrupted because of the excess of its citizens. Government collapsed and became corrupt (just as the government of Italy is during the time of the film). Marcello is symbolic of the excess which corrupted Roman society and ultimately led to its downfall. In that sense, La Dolce Vita is also an exploration of the modern world and what it is like for humans to live in the modern world.
