Did You ever imagine what life must have been like in Rome during the era of Fellini's La Dolce Vita? Shirley Sealy doesn't have to - she lived it. As a young woman influenced by the new era of films in which females were seen as independent, adventurous travelers, Shirley left Denver, Colorado on a whim to move to Rome. She had no friends there, no job- only a few names of potential contacts scribbled down. Somehow, she not only managed to survive, but thrive and was quickly engulfed in the wonderful madness that was Rome in the early 1960s. During her time there, Fellini's ground-breaking film opened - and revolutionized not only the world of cinema but other key aspects of society ranging from fashion to sex.Â
In issue #8 of Cinema Retro, Shirley (who went on to become a respected film critic and author) relives her experiences and publishes an excerpt from an essay she wrote at the time she was living La Dolce Vita. We truly believe that Cinema Retro attracts the finest film scholars and writers anywhere. This excerpt from Shirley Sealy's 1961 essay proves the point:
Hours spent at the Café de Paris, in the
afternoon for aperitivos, at night for coffee and brandy and crowd
watching….Short, narrow Via Margutta, my home away from home, and the Taverna
there, with Columbo, the elderly proprietor, card player and admirer of
women….Of course, all Italian men are admirers of women….The constant
summertime circus of parties, wine, conversations in several languages,
espresso bars and sports cars....Thrill of thrills—riding in a Maserati with a
handsome Italian aristocrat (a count, he said) and finding a parking spot right
in front of the tables at Doney’s….To Davy’s Blue Room, a popular bar
downstairs at the Colony (the best hamburgers in town), to mingle with the expat movie, newspaper and
embassy people….Sunday excursions with Italian friends to the beach at Fregene,
to sit on the sand and eat raw mussels out of plastic bags….To the small
trattorias in Trastevere, with their seafood stench and crazy ways to disguise
squid…An elegant feast at a grand restaurant on the grounds of a palazzo on
Monte Mario, with torches hung in the trees and mandolin players strolling by,
and me in an off-the-shoulder, crinoline-skirted black silk, with my new guy—my
new French/American guy—in his tux….Or, on other nights, the two of us dancing
at the nightclub barges of the Tevere, along with the Pincio prostitutes—in
their beehive hairdos and short, flower-printed dresses— having a grand time
with their clients or their pimps….Walking down the Spanish steps while
marveling at a spectacular red-gold sunset behind the dome of St.
Peter’s….Riding in a horse drawn carriage through the magnolia-lined lane in
Borghese Gardens… Midnight walks to see the floodlit ancient collosseo, and
touch its cold, ancient stones while listening to fountains dripping in the
ancient Foro Romano….Flirting madly with gorgeous Italian men, preening dandies
all, who loiter on the sidewalks and call out “ciao, bella, ciao….you wanna
make a walk?â€â€¦.Too little sleep, too much wine. In Roma, la vita e troppo
dolce…
FOR SHIRLEY SEALY'S COMPLETE ARTICLE AND HER REFLECTIONS ON FELLINI'S FILM , SEE CINEMA RETRO ISSUE #8