La Dolce Vita (1960)
La dolce vita
Comedy, Drama • 2h 56m
Director: Federico Fellini
Cast: Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée, Yvonne Furneaux, Magali Noël, Alain Cuny, Annibale Ninchi, Walter Santesso, Valeria Ciangottini, Riccardo Garrone, Ida Galli, Audrey McDonald, Polidor, Alain Dijon, Mino Doro, Giulio Girola, Laura Betti, Nico, Domino, Carlo Musto, Enzo Cerusico, Giulio Paradisi, Enzo Doria, Enrico Glori, Adriana Moneta, Massimo Busetti, Lex Barker, Jacques Sernas, Nadia Gray, Giuseppe Addobbati, Conte Brunoro Serego Aligheri, Gabriella Andreini, Federika André, Armando Annuale, Joan Antequera, Juan Antequero, Gianni Baghino, Nadia Balabine, Ignazio Balsamo, Remo Benedetti, Andrea Bianchi, Lars Bloch, Leonardo Botta, Ida Bracci Dorati, Ferdinando Brofferio, Giovanna Busetti, Tito Buzzo, Daniela Calvino, Tony Campanino, Fabrizio Capucci, Donato Castellaneta, Adriano Celentano, Elisabetta Cini, Giulio Citti, Leo Coleman, Nani Colombo, Mario Conocchia, Francesco Consalvo, Tiziano Cortini, Decimo Cristiani, Mario De Grenet, Andrea De Pino, Adele De Rossi, Donatella Della Nora, Christine Denise, Katherine Denise, Carlo Di Maggio, François Dieudonné, Venceslao Dobrzensky, Donatella Esparmer, Paolo Fadda, Umberto Felici, Oretta Fiume, Rina Franchetti, Giacomo Gabrielli, Franco Giacobini, Angela Giavalisco, Romolo Giordani, Christine Graefeck, Lily Granado, Libero Grandi, Maurizio Guelfi, Gloria Hendy, April Hennessy, Nina Hohenlohe, Antonio Jacono, Gloria Jones, Carlo Kechler, Else Knorr, Paolo Labia, John Francis Lane, Sondra Lee, Marianne Leibl, Guglielmo Leoncini, Giuliana Lojodice, Renée Longarini, Francisco Lori, Francesco Luzi, Mario Mallarno, Renato Mambor, Vittorio Manfrino, Maria Marigliano, Carlo Mariotti, Gino Marturano, Maria Mazzanti, Harriet Medin, Marta Melocco, Nello Meniconi, Alex Messoyedoff, Gianfranco Mingozzi, Lucia Modigliani, Maite Morand, Aurelio Nardi, Desmond O'Grady, Liana Orfei, Umberto Orsini, Contessa Cristina Paolozzi, Ada Passeri, Franca Pasut, Loretta Pepi, Paola Petrini, Cesarino Miceli Picardi, Princess Doris Pignatelli, Alberto Plebani, Oliviero Prunas, Giovanni Querrel, Giulio Questi, Concetta Ragusa, Loretta Ramaciotti, Leonida Repaci, Alfredo Rizzo, Rosemary Rennel Rodd, Giancarlo Romani, Franco Rossellini, Prince Eugenio Ruspoli di Poggio Suasa, Margherita Russo, Anna Maria Salerno, Anna Salvatore, Archie Savage, Lisa Schneider, Maria Pia Serafini, Noel Sheldon, Isabella Soldani, Letizia Spadini, Giò Stajano, Gino Talamo, Sandra Tesi, Henry Thody, Tomás Torres, Iris Tree, Vando Tress, Gondrano Trucchi, Teresa Tsao, Winie Vagliani, Leontine Van Strein, Aldo Vasco, Lucia Vasilicò, Maria Teresa Vianello, Sandy von Normand, Antoinette Weynen, Angela Wilson, Vadim Wolkonsky, Maria Teresa Wolodimeroff, Gianni Zamputo, Italo Zingarelli, Iolanda Fortini, Marta Timar, Bruna Cealti, Nancy Lecchini, Giulio Tomei, Lucia Cavalieri, Edward Febo Kelleng, Rio Nobile, Romalı Perihan
Best English-friendly, video & audio release
2014 Criterion Blu-ray is from the same master and has only slightly worse compression. JP/DE/FR releases all have incorrect levels. Caps
All Blu-ray releases are from the same mastering, superior to the one on older DVD releases which is sourced from a higher generation source. They all sound about the same, with the exception of Criterion, which sounds worse due to extraneous filtering.
Paramount's disc also includes a contemporary English dub, previously unreleased on home video.
Updated 3 months ago
About the film
Episodic journey of journalist Marcello who struggles to find his place in the world, torn between the allure of Rome's elite social scene and the stifling domesticity offered by his girlfriend, all the while searching for a way to become a serious writer.
- TSPDT
- 2026: #332025: #342024: #342023: #322022: #32
- Alternative Titles
- The Sweet Life, Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita, Fellini's La Dolce Vita
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Flicker Alley 4K confirmed for 2027 https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24404584&postcount=1
MoC audio is better https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=225532&page=3
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
WB 4K
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)
An undeniably significant improvement from the BD yet still severely flawed. See DFIC's review.
Director: Buster Keaton
Kino Lorber new Seven Chances / Sherlock Jr. Blu-ray?
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
MoC 4K Blu-ray late 2027
Lobster Films (Kino Lorber?) > Cohen/Eureka https://slow.pics/c/3KWXoMyR The new Kino Lorber's Seven Chances / Sherlock Jr. might be using the same restoration as Lobster Films
Director: Billy Wilder
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
(transfer of the 1989 MGM LaserDisc, without problems plaguing Kino Lorber's release)
Arrow UHD is an update of the original 4K scan done for their BD. It is also visually far superior to the Kino version and adds Dolby Vision HDR. The Arrow UHD uses a new LD mono capture and has none of the issues or processing found in the Kino UHD which also used an LD mono capture and somehow mucked it up. Short of a brand new scan, the Arrow UHD is as good as it possibly can be.
Director: Michael Cimino
2020 Shout! Factory 4K
2020 Shout! Factory 4K slightly better than StudioCanal in HDR10. Similar in DV
35mm mix: 1991 Universal LaserDisc
70mm mix: StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray
35mm mix: 1991 Universal LaserDisc marginally better than StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray. Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray is downmix.
70mm mix: StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray. Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray is remix.
Director: Orson Welles
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · blah-ray.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab)
WB Europe 4K Blu-ray
WB Europe 4K Blu-ray slightly better encoding than Criterion (caveat: missing Criterion extras)
Theatrical Cut: Italy Eagle Pictures 4K Blu-ray
Redux Cut: Lionsgate vs Eagle Pictures?
Final Cut: Lionsgate or Eagle Pictures, both are not great (visible chroma noise)
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Theatrical: Germany 4K Blu-ray/US Blu-ray DD 5.1 (1979 mix)
In the Lionsgate US/UK 6-disc set, there are 4 discs of the main feature. For whatever reason, the 4K discs lack the *original track. The Germany 4K Blu-ray release is different on this matter.
UBD: Final Cut: Atmos, DD2.0
UBD: Redux/Theatrical: Atmos
BD: Final Cut: Atmos, DD2.0
BD: Redux/Theatrical: Dtru5.1 (Redux mix?), DD5.1 (?), DD5.1 (Theatrical only), DD2.0 (downmix??)
As a result the Theatrical Cut has 4 tracks, The Redux has 3. Differences are unclear.
BD: Hearts of Darkness
BD: Special Features
Director: George Lucas
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
OG: "4K77" or "D+77" on high seas.
Special Edition: "4K97_IV" or "D+97_IV" on high seas.
2027 Original Trilogy restoration/50th anniversary rerelease clips leaked plus release confirmed
OG: LaserDisc audio is the best option for the Dolby Stereo mixes (and usually included in fan restorations). There are 16mm/TV rips of the mono mixes.
Special Edition: Cinema DTS or 1997 LaserDisc for the Special Edition.
Director: David Lean
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
The 5.1 on Sony 4K Blu-ray is from the 1989 70mm mix. The original is 4-track. not on the disc.
Director: Federico Fellini
Director: Federico Fellini
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
2017 StudioCanal Blu-ray
Director: Federico Fellini
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Image Entertainment DVD is slightly better than Criterion 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray/DVD (all basically the same)
Other Blu-ray releases are all much worse.
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: Federico Fellini
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray > Paramount US and Capelight DE, same black crush on all three but the Arrow is encoded by FiM and has very good new supplements, the Capelight looks slightly low-passed, but in motion it probably looks about the same as the Paramount, see caps comparison for all three.
Arrow and Paramount basically sound the same, the Arrow has a slightly higher bitrate. Capelight is probably the same too but for now it's TBA.
Paramount US 4K Blu-ray has FEL Dolby Vision
Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray and Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray have MEL Dolby Vision
Paramount 4K Blu-ray Purist choice: Blu-ray
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)
Paramount 4K Blu-ray new improved master with color grading and slight issues. Blu-ray is old master with original color grading
Blu-ray 5.1
The Paramount 4K Blu-ray has a much better new scan that removes the original extremely dated color grading. This is an improvement on one hand but a definite revisionist change on the other. There is the expected grain management and slight HDR issues in addition to encoding quirks from Paramount. It is a giant improvement over the original Blu-ray but the color change and other issues means that the Blu-ray is one to keep for purists to have the as-is original iteration of the film's presentation. Audio wise the film has been remixed into Atmos but it merely seems like a slightly tweaked and frankly tamed version of the original 5.1. Of the two I prefer the Blu-ray 5.1. The original Blu-ray was Dolby TrueHD and the reissue Blu-ray in the four film Blu-ray collection boxset was DTS-HDMA.
DFIC extensive review: https://youtu.be/evsrJOTIjdA?si=wtdWGxZBfhPYTIeW
Director: Tony Scott
The 70mm 6-track mix has a higher bitrate on the Paramount 1998 DVD, but is more limited than on the THX LaserDisc The Paramount 1998 DVD also has open matte versions in fullscreen 1.33:1 and widescreen 2.00:1 instead of the theatrical aspect ratio of 2.39:1, but the 2.00:1 widescreen presentation is non-anamorphic. The THX LaserDisc is available in both fullscreen 1.33:1 and widescreen 2.00:1 variants.
Director: Terrence Malick
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Lovely underlying remaster by Criterion and Resillion but encode is sadly low-pass filtered by Pixelogic, and even then, the encode is still less than ideal. Still easily obliterates any prior disc release, but certainly wouldn't hurt to have a UK or German label take a crack at this same master.
Director: Peter Faiman
Australia Cut: Australia Fox DVD
International Cut: Paramount Blu-ray
Encore Cut: Germany Winkler Film 4K Blu-ray, censored but good encoding
Sources: movie-censorship.com (opens in a new tab)
US Paramount 4K Blu-ray, is the International US Cut and not the Encore Cut
Australia Cut: Laserdisc
The film exists in three versions:
- the original Australian cut (~104 minutes at 24fps/~100 minutes at 25fps);
- the American/international version (~98 minutes at 24fps/~94 minutes at 25fps) trimming some exposition in the Outback first half of the film and some shorter extensions of a few seconds in the New York section, altering some of the dialogue – including censoring a "fuck" to "screw" – but featuring one additional dialogue extension not in the Australian version (a comparison of the two cuts can be found at Movie Censorship);
- the Australian Encore Cut (~95 minutes at 24fps/~91 minutes at 25fps) which uses the international version source so it already has those alterations but also removes approximately three minutes consisting of parts of two scenes featuring Mick grabbing the crotch of a cross-dressing prostitute and a later sequence when he does the same thing at a party to a woman with a deep voice (a comparison of the international version and the Encore Cut can be found at Movie Censorship).
3D version: Paramount 3D Blu-ray
Paramount 4K Blu-ray on October 26 2026
Director: Billy Wilder
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Paramount 4K Blu-ray. See caps
HDR/grading: nice, but some blown out
Encoding: inconsistent, smeared motion
DNR: inconsistent, frozen
Old Paramount Blu-ray is arguably a solid alternative choice
Paramount 4K Blu-ray mono
Paramount 4K Blu-ray mono is different version of the Blu-ray mono from the same old 2000 DVD transfer.
The 5.1 remix on the 4K Blu-ray is an appalling remix done by going wild with artificially generated stems from Park Road Post who were given the surviving mono to separate. The experience is jarring and fidelity to original mix in terms of level balance, directionality and impact is nonexistent. Not only does this sound painfully weird, but the Paramount mixers then did whatever they wanted in terms of LFE, sound pans and effect changes.
The original mono mix was not restored and still needs it badly. The 4K master is filled with frozen grain examples coming and going plus some HDR issues in addition to the usual Paramount problems. It is simultaneously better and worse than the Blu-ray master.
Edit history
Every recommendation follows the same method — how these calls are made.