hi there! I'm really fascinated by fellini's movies and his life. It makes me proud to know i live in the same country that inspired this great director."La dolce vita" surely is one of his best movies... even if "8 1/2" is unbeatable. La dolce vita is, in my opinion, one of the best movies ever made ( together with The Seventh Seal, Taxi Driver, 2001 and literally tons of others ). Unluckily, italian cinema has never been as good as Fellini's. Italian cinema is slowly dying, and sometimes this makes me upset ( i'd like to be a movie director too ).
Anyway, let's talk about this film. I don't think is 1. The keys are more. Take your seat, because it's going to be a long read.
You say Paola is the key to this movie. Surely, she's not as lascivious as other characters in the story. She kind of reminded me Dante in the Hell: a simple soul who's the spectator of the agonies inflicted to damned souls. Paola is even more divine than Dante, considering she's described as an "angel of the churches of Umbria by Marcello himself.
She's like us and like Marcello: a powerless spectator. The only difference is that, while Paola's candor is stronger than desire ( with desire, i mean desire of sex, desire of fame, desire of money, desire of miracles, and much more ), Marcello is a victim of the events, who then turns into a monster. The ending shows us these 2 spectators: the angel and the sheep who turned into wolf. There's no hope for Marcello. There's hope for us. That's why Paola's last glance is not directed to Marcello, but to us.
The impossibility of communication between these 2 characters is not only something related to the water flowing between them: notice that they only meet twice. The first time is at the bar, while the second one is on the seashore. The first time, they talk. That's also due to the fact (imo) that Marcello hasn't completely transformed yet.
I'll tell you when, from my standpoint, this sheep turned into wolf. A quick anticipation: Steiner.
Anyway, the second time they met, Marcello is completely different: he can't hear Paola's words. This deafness can be also read as a too big gap between these two souls, Paola and Marcello. The first one is pure, the second one is corrupted.
And not only they're unable to communicate: the location of this scene is the seashore. As you may know, the sea has always had a premonitory role in Fellini's movies. It's on the seashore that most of the tragic events ( or tragic realizations ) take place in his stories.
SPOILER! In case you haven't seen these movies
For example, in Lo sceicco bianco (1952), the protagonist discovers what's the real nature of her idle ( the white sheik ): he's just an adulterous actor who plays a role in photonovels and loves seducing her readers. This all happens on a ship.
In La Strada (1954), Gelsomina's farewell to her family ( her mum sold her due to financial issues ) happens on the beach. Zampanò's realization of his loneliness happens on the seashore too. This is not a casual symmetry ( beginning and ending of the movie ) revolving around the sea.
Also in Le Notti di Cabiria (1957), the tragic finale takes place in front of a large stretch of water.
END OF SPOILERS
I only cited Fellini's prior movies to the movie we're talking about.
Eventually, even La Dolce Vita follows this rule. The ending is the only scene in the movie that implies the sea. The monster's eye is lost in the examination of the empty souls he's surrounded by. Reading this scene with fellini's vision of the sea in psychoanalysis, the sea is portrayed as the human's subconscious. This means that this monster, emerging from the sea, is just one of the millions of monsters that live the deep sea and ,so, it's just one of the horrors hidden in our subconscious.
Regarding this, i'd suggest you "Il Libro dei Sogni". It's a series of annotations taken by fellini about his dreams, from the 60s up to the last years of his life.
Anyway, this is why i think the ending of this movie is not positive at all.
As i told before, the keys are way more than 1 or 2. For example, Sylvia's encounter is symbolic: she's really beautiful and provocative. Surely a standard of feminine beauty for that time. Marcello is instantly shocked by her, but doesn't want to admit it in the first place. When he follows Sylvia on the stairs of San Peter's cathedral, that's an oxymoron: two adulterers chasing in the capital of christianity.
Also the false miracle scene is emblematic: Dario and Maria want to make a fool of believers. This false apparition is exploited by mass media and journalists, whose presence is cumbersome throughout the hole movie, such as their hunger of hype and scoops.
Also the royal castle scene, where royals are portrayed as amoebae, whose only goal in life is living more in order to enjoy alcohol, sex and superficiality as more as possible.
The meeting between Marcello and his father is even autobiographic: Fellini died with the remorse of not having talked more with his father. In this movie, thanks to his alter ego Marcello Mastroianni, he has a chance to talk with his father again ( of course, this time he's not his real father, but an actor who "looked a lot like him", said fellini ). This time, they have the chance to talk a bit more... but that's not enough yet. Eventually, his dad goes home with a promiscuous ballerina, Fanny, and tries to demonstrate his son he's still as manly and as strong as a young man ( Marcello is very skeptical, considering he keeps asking him if he "feels good"). Of course, he fails in his purpose, humiliating himself in front of his son. He was the only person that his son admired, apart from Steiner. Both his idles will end up disappointing him, contributing to his fascination towards a life without concerns.
This fascination borns with the fountain scene. This scene is, in fact, the genesis of Marcello's downfall in desire. It's not casual if Marcello tells Sylvia she's "the first woman of creation", kind of recalling an erotic version of the biblical genesis. This is the real sentence that testifies the beginning of Marcello's inner transmutation:
While Marcello's walking towards Sylvia in the fountain, he says
"Yes, I guess she's right. I'm making it all wrong. We're all making a mistake!"
In italian is way better.