Post-World War II, Rome’s cultural contributions formed a bright, burning moment in history. Rome’s huge movie studio, Cinecitta, attracted a dizzying array of stars from Charleton Heston, Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, and Frank Sinatra to that stunning and combustible couple, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. And behind these stars trailed street photographers who waited, and pounced on their subjects in pursuit of the most unflattering and dramatic portraits.
Fashionistas, exiles, and martyrs flocked to Rome hoping for a chance to experience and indulge in the glow of old money, new stars, fast cars, wanton libidos, and brazen news photographers. That scene was captured nowhere better than in Federico Fellini’s masterpiece, La Dolce Vita. It was condemned for its licentiousness, when in fact Fellini was condemning the very excess, narcissism, and debauchery of Rome’s bohemian scene.
Gossipy, colorful, and richly informed, Dolce Vita Confidential re-creates Rome’s stunning ascent with vivid and compelling tales of its glitterati and artists, down to every last outrageous detail of the city’s magnificent transformation.
Nonfiction
Dolce Vita Confidential
- From the Publisher
May 16, 2017
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