I almost forgot to do this posting! Glad I got it in! So without further ado, I will answer the questions Professor McRae emailed to us.
"How do you think that Fellini is using Catholicism in this movie? Based on the question the reading rasies, do you think he is the ultimate Catholic, or the ultimate decadent?"
I think that Fellini is in truth the ultimate Catholic, though it is hard to see this at first. As the reading points out, Fellini clearly prescribes to a decadent and fun lifestyle and doesnt adhere to the strict rules of Catholicism. However, I think he is the ultimate Catholic for two reasons. The first being that "La Dolce Vita" was a hyper-realistic portrayal of Rome at the time. The film isnt a light and fluffy fiction out of hollywood at all, but is designed to capture the truth of the time and place it is discussing and show what the sweet life is really like, and what life in general is like. I found it funny that the church and Italian government were offended by the film and called it offensive, because Fellini wasnt doing a rude charicature, but painting a real picture of them, so by saying it is disgusting and offensive shows just how disgusting and offensive they really were. This window into Rome that Fellini creates shows how the Catholic church and traditional systems may be flawed. I think it is saintly of Fellini to show the truth of the situation in neither a super positive or negative light, but a realistic one, and allows people to decide if the world he displays is good or bad for themselves. The other reason I see Fellini as the ultimate catholic is from a really cool and beautiful quote from him in the reading, ""beyond sea and sky, through terrible suffering, perhaps, or the relief of
tears, God can be glimpsed - his love and his grace, not so much as a matter
of theological faith, but as a profound need of the spirit."
This is spot on, I think at least, and shows how Fellini is more catholic then most people because he thinks and makes his own conclusions about faith and God. He doesnt just pretend to listen to what the church demands of him as others seem to do when they follow blindly.
"We've talked a lot about surrealism and hyper-realism, and other ways that filmmakers so far have depicted reality in their films. Given that Fellini began his career as one of the Italian neo-realists, what images of 'reality' do you see in this movie, and how does Fellini seem to be using them?"
The issues and insecurities Marcello faces, the way the aristocracy behaves, the way all the men seem to suffer from dilemmas in being a good and mature parent and spouse while not wanting to lose their "freedom"; these are just a few of the elements which stood out to me as being very realisitic. O, and another would be the media and the paparazzis constantly being heartless a-holes who attack everyone relentlessly and are constantly nagging for the scoop. Like when they are trying to tell Steiner's wife about the tragedy and the photographers just wont leave her alone or have any respect for the situation at all. It really tore at me, and that is just one example.
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I thought it was funny that you called him "the ultimate Catholic". I do agree that it shows what Rome is like and the typical flaws of the system. It is interesting that Fellini was making his own conclusions about faith and God, because i feel that at that time (1960) ideas about religion were pretty much concrete and to think otherwise was probably a little dangerous, at least in America. I'm not sure about Rome, but i would think it would be much of the same, especially with the Catholic church as an establishment.
ReplyDeleteI really just stole that from her question, I actually was debating using that for like five minutes because it sounded so weird, but it works I think
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of you guys on how it was very brave and unique of someone to make their own conclusions about religion especially in a nation that is primarily catholic. It was definitely daring but that is what makes Fellini so great and bold. It is interesting that he finds his own views and like you mentioned "He doesnt just pretend to listen to what the church demands of him as others seem to do when they follow blindly"
ReplyDeleteAs outrageous as the film seemed, you make a valid argument about how real some of the issues really were. I certainly believe that a lot of these things were exaggerated but were real all the same. Like Marcello's inseceurities and his downward spiral into becoming a soulless d-bag by the end of the film. Or the relentless nature of the paparazzo.
ReplyDeleteI know nothing of Roman Catholicism but I believe that Fellini portrayed it pretty well, especially the whole "Madonna" sequence. The idea of a community needing that kind of faith so badly is kind of frightening.
I think your instincts are really good here. And I think you're right about Fellini being seriously Catholic. That's what Pasolini seems to argue. But I'm not sure where you see the actual Church portrayed in this movie. We see people responding (or not) to religious imagery, but rarely in an actually religious context. The only scene in the movie that takes place in a church is Steiner's organ playing. I think you're probably right about reality too, but how real do you think Marcello's lifestyle actually is, compared to the average person's? There's a lot of glittering unreality in this movie too.
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