The word “paparazzi” is now used almost universally to describe those aggressive photographers who’ll do anything to catch an image of the rich and famous at work or – preferably – at play. It may seem like the word’s always been with us, but in fact it was coined in reference to a character – yes, a do-anything-for a-picture photographer - named Signor Paparazzo in director Federico Fellini’s altogether remarkable 1960 classic La Dolce Vita. The film itself is groundbreaking in many ways; it has become a nearly-universal, communal vision of modern society’s fascination with celebrity, glamour, fashion, scandal and decadence, all visualized by one of the cinema’s greatest and most stylistically original artists. In the film, tabloid reporter Marcello (Marcello Mastroianni) complains, suffers and vents his frustration over not being a journalist of a higher caliber, yet he too is in thrall to the hedonistic pleasures that surround him. (And if Fellini has given us a single bit of visual shorthand for that hedonism, it’s the unforgettable image of Marcello and movie starlet Anita Ekberg frolicking at night in the Trevi Fountain.) A vast morality play cloaked as a mesmerizing display of immorality, La Dolce Vita is Fellini’s powerful response to the post-war generation’s vanishing sense of purpose. Though the film is nearly fifty years old, one can’t deny that its mythological cultural landscape has both staying power and artistic power. As a work of great conviction and vision, La Dolce Vita is a part of us, always ready to spring back to buoyant life just like our own most vivid memories. Best Picture Award, 1960 Cannes Film Festival. Academy Award nominations for Best Director, Screenplay, Art Direction and Costume Design. (174 min.)