"In his carnivalesque portrait of provincial Italy during the Fascist period, Federico Fellini satirizes his youth and turns daily life into a circus of social rituals, adolescent desires, male fantasies, and political subterfuge, all set to Nino Rota's classic, nostalgia-tinged score."--Container.

The structure of power and the facade of democracy are explored in this political exposé of corruption in Naples. Following the fatal collapse of a tenement building, an investigation reveals that profits from municipal developments are going to city council members and developers in backroom negotiations.

Nino is an auto-factory foreman who takes his proper, modern wife and two blonde daughters from industrial Milan to the antiquated, rural Sicily to visit his family and get back in touch with his roots. Nino gets more than he bargained for when he discovers some harsh truths about his ancestors and himself.

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.