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La Dolce Vita (re-release)
Metascore
93 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 12 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
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  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    The movie is made with boundless energy. Fellini stood here at the dividing point between the neorealism of his earlier films (like "La Strada") and the carnival visuals of his extravagant later ones ("Juliet of the Spirits," "Amarcord'').
  2. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    100
    One of the cinema's true classics.
  3. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    100
    A profound film by a legendary director in the greatest period of his career.
  4. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    100
    In this one masterpiece, Federico Fellini achieved the ideal balance -- between social observation and unconscious imagery, between artistic discipline and freedom, and between the neo-realism of 1950s Italian cinema and the orgiastic flights of his later work.
  5. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    100
    Freshly viewed, the movie's melancholy seems to fit uncannily well in the moment we find ourselves now. In the film there are mentions of nuclear annihilation and worries that heedless lust and wanton partying could bring Rome a second fall.
  6. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    100
    Films don't get more essential than this.
  7. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    100
    A brilliantly conceived epic fable.
  8. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Bosley Crowther
    100
    A brilliantly graphic estimation of a whole swath of society in sad decay and, eventually, a withering commentary upon the tragedy of the overcivilized. (Review of Original Release)
  9. Variety
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not Credited)
    90
    The performances are uniformly excellent. Mastroianni is perfect in the key role of the basically good and honest boy who succumbs to the sweet life. Ekberg is a revelation as the visiting star, while Furneaux almost runs off with the picture as the reporter's instinctive, possessive mistress. (Review of original release)
  10. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Michael Atkinson
    80
    In one movie, at least, the ethical baseline (heisted, you could argue, from "Sweet Smell of Success") gave Fellini's roaming, cluttered mise-en-scène a chilling gravity he could never genuinely locate again.
  11. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not Credited)
    70
    After nearly three hours Fellini's relentlessly enigmatic, non-committal approach leaves you wishing for something more than poignant imagery and moody, self-obsessed characters. (Review of Original Release)
  12. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Dave Kehr
    70
    The film was hugely successful and widely praised in its time, though it's really nothing more than the old C.B. De Mille formula of titillation and moralizing--Roman orgies and Christian martyrs--with only a fraction of De Mille's showmanship.
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