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 play. It may seem like the word's always been with us, but in fact it was coined in reference to a "do anything for a picture" photographer named Signor Paparazzo in director Federico Fellini's 1960 classic La Dolce Vita. The film itself is groundbreaking in many ways; it has become a nearly universal vision of modern society's fascination with celebrity, glamour, scandal and decadence, all visualized by one of the cinema's greatest artists. Tabloid reporter Marcello (Marcello Mastroianni) suffers and vents his frustration over not being a journalist of a higher calling, 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 image of Marcello and Anita Ekberg frolicking 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 postwar generation's vanishing sense of purpose. Best Picture Award, 1960 Cannes Film Festival. Academy Award nominations for Best Director, Screenplay, Art Direction and Costume Design. (174 min.)
