La Dolce Vita

Our image of Rome --where Italians drive around in little cars, or on motorcycles, at all hours of the day and night-- was born with Fellini's La Dolce Vita, in which Marcello Mastroianni plays a jaded journalist pursuing his latest subject, Anita Ekberg, through Rome, ending at the Fontana di Trevi in the wee small hours. There they enter the fountain and the stately Miss Ekberg strides through the waters like a goddess, in a black and white off-the shoulder evening gown.

Today's Rome is still a place where cars are the dominant mode of transport. Parked everywhere and anywhere, violations rarely bring fines, as the size of Rome's police force makes ticketing illegal parking a low priority. There is public transportation: the Metropolitana --the underground-- is clean and swift. The train cars, orange and white inside, are pleasant enough. The problem is that the underground is not extensive enough to persuade Romans to give up their cars. Whenever an extension of the lines begins, it is often halted, due to the discovery of ruins. What is an archaeologist's dream is a commuter's nightmare. Romans without cars have to take buses to the Metropolitana: the buses are serviceable, if not exceptional. The transportation burden the average man bears daily explains why at night the town is silent, sheer exhaustion having overtaken the inhabitants after a full day spent fighting in traffic, whether as a driver, a rider or pedestrian. In contrast to the day, when Rome closes down, it depopulates: there are no twenty-four hour convenience stores, no "7-11s", no all-night newstands, only an all-night pharmacy, I am told. That explains why films shot here at night depict Rome's streets as desolate, as they indeed, are.

La Dolce Vita was shot at Cinecitta, the film studio on the outskirts of the city created in the 1920s and 30s. Mussolini recognized the propaganda value of the industry, which was, for a time, government owned. Today Cinecitta is a studio which can shoot a film, edit it, , enhance its sound effects and color. It is a privately-owned company now, which permits visitors to glimpse a bit of the process, through a series of exhibits that come under the heading Cinecitta Si Mostra

You take the Metropolitana in the direction of Anagnina to the Cinecitta station, which is fourteen stops from Termini. As you mount the stairs you are greeted by the one word, Cinecitta spelled out in aluminum letters in Art Deco type, the sign overhanging the entrance to the studio, exactly as it did in the glory days of Fellini, Visconti, de Sica and many others.

You pay your 10 Euros admission and are encouraged to "Follow The Red Carpet" --a strip of red paint about a yard wide. On display are the evening gown Anita Ekberg wore in La Dolce Vita, a dress Audrey Hepburn wore in "Roman Holiday", and a pair or costumes Elizabeth Taylor wore for "Cleopatra". A film called "Post", made by students at the film academy illustrates how technicians at Cinecitta enhance the visceral pleasures of a director's concept, taking the raw footage to be edited, sound mixed, color-balanced.

The highlight of the tour is a visit to the backlot. Martin Scorsese's "Gangs Of New York" was filmed at Cincecitta, the television serial "Rome" as well. The backlot contains the set of "Broadway" in New York as Scorses envisioned it. A bit further on is part of the set for "Rome", which evokes the brightly painted public buildings at the city's center, and the warren of alleys behind. The shops of sellers of wine and other foods are reconstructed faithfully, doorless, merchandise displayed on wooden shelves outside. Ostia, the port of Rome was represented by a lake conveniently found on the Cinecitta property, extends for more than one thousand acres. The same lake served as New York harbor during the shooting of "Gangs Of New York".

Exiting the backlot, on a lawn in front of one of the exhibit buildings a giant black head with a crown appears to emerge from the earth. This is "Venustia" one of the characters in Fellini's "Satyricon", his effort to convey the decadence of the empire that inspired Petronius' work.

In an exhibit called I Protagonisti footage of producers --from Dino di Laurentis ("The Bible"), to Carlo Ponti (Sophia Loren's husband); and film makers from Fellini to Sergio Leone speak of Cinecitta and the atmosphere of the studio. In one clip, two elderly filmmakers who came to Cincecittafrom Tuscany recollect the dreams of their youth: "We'll make films, or we'll kill ourselves!" Sergio Leone, the father of the "spaghetti western", who is seen driving along the Cinecitta backlot in his Silver Cloud Rolls Royce, describes the difference between the Italian and the American approach to filmmaking: The Americans are very logical, very methodical. If everyone is not in position, if one extra is missing, they won't hand you a sword. This wastes a lot of time. I prefer the Italian method."

Of course, the Italians consider themselves masters of improvisation, so the attitude is understandable. I can only smile to think of the pleasures Cincecitta has given the world, and wish it well.