Criterion Collection (Firm)

For decades, journalist Jep Gambardella has charmed and seduced his way through the glittering nightlife of Rome. Since the legendary success of his only novel, he has been a permanent fixture in the city's literary and elite social circles. But on his sixty-fifth birthday, Jep unexpectedly finds himself taking stock of his life, turning his cutting wit on himself and his contemporaries.

Directed by Federico Fellini, the story of a fragile girl who falls in love with a brutal circus performer after she was sold by her mother.

The prismatic portrait of the days and nights of a party girl in sixties Rome is a revelation. It follows the gorgeous, seemingly liberated Adriana as she dallies with a wide variety of men, attends parties, goes to modeling gigs, and circulates among the rich and famous. Despite its often light tone, though, the film is a stealth portrait of a suffocating culture that regularly dehumanizes people, especially women.