Comparison Of Nights Of Cabiria And La Dolce Vita
Uploaded by megatow on Dec 07, 2004
“Nights of Cabiria” and “La Dolce Vita” left me absolutely stunned, in awe of what I had just witnessed. I found both of these films to be unspeakably beautiful, an in my opinion, the best of the films we’ve seen thus far. Both films are unmistakably Fellini.
In “La Dolce Vita”, we are given a glimpse of a filmmaker that has moved far neo-realist roots. While “Nights Of Cabiria” was certainly a departure from neo-realism, (and far less neo-realist than “La Strada”, which was just one picture before this one) it certainly had many more neo-realist elements (the plight of the poor and oppressed) than “La Dolce Vita”. “La Dolce Vita” would introduce us to a world almost never considered before in Fellini’s films, that of the bourgeois, or upper-class. A film following a protagonist from party to party among the rich is practically a slap in the face to the neorealist movement Therefore it is often said that “Nights of Cabiria” marks the conclusion of the first phase of his career and “La Dolce Vita” the beginning of the next. I prefer to see his films as a continuous visual timeline of Fellini’s artistic growth.
Both “La Dolce Vita” and “Nights of Cabiria” unfold in an episodic manner. While “Nights Of Cabiria” has a tighter, more traditional narrative structure, “La Dolce Vita” is practically a series of short films. The combination of these scenes is what leads to the complexity of the film’s message. When it is asked of us, “What are these films about?” there really is no easy answer because they are about so much. Each passing episode carries a meaning of its own that adds to the overall meaning of the picture.
Both films contain the typical Fellini clowns, ethnic performers, false appearances of the Virgin Mary, as well as other religious symbolism, nightclubs, prostitutes, stone houses by the sea, processions, and scaffolding outlined against the dawn. These may be symbolic or merely personal touches from his imagination.
I feel that it is necessary to discuss the visual aspects of these films. Both films are a huge leap, cinematically speaking, from his other films. Before “Nights of Cabiria”, little attention had been paid to the cinematic, or visual aspect of Fellini’s films. In “Nights of Cabiria”, Fellini...