Plot

A series of stories following a week in the life of a philandering tabloid journalist living in Rome.

In 1959/1960 Rome, Marcello Rubini (Marcello Mastroianni) is a writer and journalist, the worst kind of journalist--a tabloid journalist. His job is to try to catch celebrities in compromising or embarrassing situations. He tends to get quite close to his subjects--especially when they're beautiful women. Two such subjects are local heiress Maddalena (Anouk Aimee), and Swedish superstar-actress Sylvia (Anita Ekberg), with both of whom he has affairs despite being engaged to Emma (Yvonne Furneaux), a clingy, insecure, nagging, melodramatic woman. Despite his extravagant, pleasure-filled lifestyle, he is wondering if maybe a simpler life wouldn't be better.—grantss

Basking in the allure of early-1960s Rome and bustling Via Veneto's elegant sybarites and cosmopolitan celebrities, hopeful writer and now-stylish columnist Marcello Rubini spends his nights looking for the next big story--or better still, a new excitement. Balancing between hedonism and cynicism, self-loathing, and an irrepressible yearning for freedom and beauty, the philandering reporter will put his undeniable charm to the test, when international film star and unattainable object of desire Sylvia arrives in town. Against the backdrop of the eternal Fontana di Trevi, dreams burn down, as an undying hope for a better future gives way to a new set of enticements--this almost-feral passion for life and an equally unquenched desire for love have always defined Marcello's thirsty existence. How high is the price for a hearty slice of the sweet life?—Nick Riganas

Seven days (and nights) in the life of a Marcello, a Roman journalist torn between making something serious of his life or drifting along on a pleasant if empty stream of casual affairs and profitable but meaningless newspaper and magazine work. In the course of the week, he flirts with a visiting movie star, has a couple of encounters with a bored socialite (one of them in a prostitute's bedroom), is shocked when Steiner, a "serious" writer and deep thinker, kills himself and his children, and generally ignores his adoring girlfriend. In the end, he seems to have cut himself adrift on a sea of frivolity and self-disgust, with no real idea of how to find his way back "home."—mp99

Marcello is a society gossip columnist. During one of his rounds, he re-encounters Maddalena and spends the night with her in a whore's bedroom. When he comes back home the next morning, he discovers that his girlfriend Emma poisoned herself because of him. Later, he goes to the airport where the famous star Sylvia is arriving: he will go with her a few days - A chronicle of a decadent society where there are no more values except alcohol and sex, and no solutions but suicide.—Yepok