First of all, the title is ironic. The entire film presents a disorganized, chaotic life. Every character in the film is morbid, except for the angel-like waitress. And the protagonist Marcello is also lost in the chaos.
He should have come to Rome with ideals. His father was a rich man, and according to his description, a rich wine merchant. But my father was not often at home since childhood, and my mother never got my father's love. Marcello, who grew up in such an environment, should be very eager to achieve better results than his father, and he also has unrealistic fantasies about relationships. Perhaps the fiancée who committed suicide by taking poison for him reminded him of his disappointed mother, and he thought that what he wanted was fame, power, and those unattainable ladies.
Marcello had a melancholy face. He also easily attracts the attention of rich celebrities and rich women. But he always knew for a moment that he could not have their love for long. His longing and admiration for them made him unwilling to face the fiancée beside him who loved him with all his heart and even too much. The fiancee's love is too deformed to make him feel heavy, and he wants to escape. So he lingered in high society. And those celebrities in the upper class have long lost interest in everything in life. They have endless money and a lot of time, but they can't find any other support except drinking and having fun all night.
It is worth mentioning that the photographer who always appears in the film is like a moth. These people are like soulless vampires, with only material in their eyes that can make them money and cause social repercussions. They have lost their basic humanistic concerns, consuming beliefs, consuming all consumable tragedies. The moment they went to film their wives who had no knowledge of their husbands who killed their children and committed suicide, it was obvious that the slightest bit of human empathy and compassion no longer existed in them.
It was all of this that finally made Marcello give up his beliefs completely and chose to devote himself to the huge illusory carnival like those celebrities. In fact, on the night he went to commit suicide at a friend's house, he began to want to give up the illusory pursuit before and wanted to live a stable life. At that time, he saw that everything in his friend's house was very beautiful and comfortable, but what he didn't realize was that there was a deep fear behind it all. Soon after his friend killed his own children and committed suicide, he thought the possibility of a peaceful life was over. The emptiness of life gripped him again.
The last night of carnival before the end of the film is very absurd. After the carnival comes dawn, they are attracted by the fishermen by the beach. The fishermen catch a huge strange fish that has been dead for three days with its eyes open. Sad and empty people.
The little girl who looked like an angel across the beach stopped Marcello. He tried to understand what she was saying, but the waves were too big, and he eventually left her with the group. It was a metaphor and call to the real sweet life, but he ultimately failed to catch it.
The whole film is full of singing and dancing, noise, and all kinds of absurdity. The characters in the film make me feel pitiful and pathetic. This is the proposition about existence that permeates every age. Ah, Fellini is truly amazing, bringing that collective confusion to the fore.
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