Fellini's La dolce vita has been a phenomenon since before it was made, a scandal in the making and on release and a reference point ever since. Much of what made it notorious was its incorporation of real people, events and lifestyles, making it a documentation of its time. It uses performance, camera movement, editing and music to produce a striking aesthetic mix of energy and listlessness, of exuberance and despair. Richard Dyer's study considers each of these aspects of the film phenomenon, document, aesthetic and argues that they are connected.
