Over seven distinct episodes, Marcello wanders through a series of encounters and events, searching for meaning and fulfilment. As he parties with socialites, mingles with celebrities, and covers sensational stories, he becomes aware of the emptiness and superficiality of the elite. He engages in numerous romantic liaisons, including his on-off relationship with Emma Yvonne Ferneaux , though to little satisfaction.
The opening shot of La dolce vita is one of the most famous in Italian cinema. A statue of Christ is being transported across Rome by helicopter, the holy image symbolically appearing above the whole urban vista. The first shot of this sequence is of a football ground next to a ruin. The ruins seen in the background make up the Parco degli Acquedotti, a public green space south of the city structured around the remains of an ancient aqueduct.
The football pitch also remains almost exactly as it was. The helicopter flies on past a few more fragments of the aqueduct, with the sections seen in the film also still standing.
Though more famous for its sequence at the Trevi Fountain, La dolce vita also features a prior scene at a public fountain. The space has been opened out a little more today, with a wall having vanished and a statue also replaced. The fountain seen in the background is the Fontana del Nettuno, which is one of the younger locations used by Fellini in his film, having originally been built in Today it is as it was.
We get a better view of the fountain when Maddalena gets out of the car and wanders around, though the square itself is largely obscured due to filming at night. The location is also appropriate for Fellini as he lived just around the corner with Giulietta Masina in Via Margutta. A plaque adorns the house today celebrating the connection.
