Mamma Roma (1962)

Mamma Roma is a middle-aged whore of Roma. Now she can quit her job to become a fruit seller. And she can take back her 16-year-old son, Ettore. For him, she dreams of a good position. But ... See full summary »

Director:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writer:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Stars:

Anna Magnani, Ettore Garofolo, Franco Citti

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anna Magnani	...	Mamma Roma
Ettore Garofolo	...	Ettore
Franco Citti	...	Carmine
Silvana Corsini	...	Bruna
Luisa Loiano	...	Biancofiore
Paolo Volponi	...	Il Prete (Priest)
Luciano Gonini	...	Zacaria
Vittorio La Paglia	...	Il sig. Pellissier
Piero Morgia	...	Piero
Pietro Ceccarelli	...	Carletto (as Franco Ceccarelli)
Marcello Sorrentino	...	Tonino
Sandro Meschino	...	Pasquale
Franco Tovo	...	Augusto
Pasquale Ferrarese	...	Lino
Leandro Santarelli	...	Begalo

Storyline

Mamma Roma is a middle-aged whore of Roma. Now she can quit her job to become a fruit seller. And she can take back her 16-year-old son, Ettore. For him, she dreams of a good position. But it is perhaps too late for Ettore, whose company includes mostly teenaged louts...

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Plot Keywords:

prostitution | juvenile delinquency | wedding | iconography | church | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

18 January 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mamma Róma

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arco Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min 95 min (original)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the films premiere in the Quattro Fontane Cinema (Rome, 22nd September 1962), Mr. Pier Paolo Pasolini was attacked by fascists who protested against the film.

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Goofs

When Mamma Roma takes off the veil from the bride and puts it on herself, the bride is shown still wearing the veil.

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Connections

Referenced in Come si fa a non amare Pier Paolo Pasolini - Appunti per un film sull'immondezza (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Violino tzigano"
Music by Cesare A. Bixio (as Bixio)
Lyrics by Bruno Cherubini (as Cherubini)

User Reviews

The shame and grace of a struggling mother and her son...

Mama Roma, played by an amazing Anna Magnani, desperately wants a good, respectable life for her 17 year old son, played by Ettore Garafalo. She would do anything for him. If at one time she sold her body on the streets of Rome partly as an act of rebellion against a failed marriage of convenience, she now must resume the work to raise funds to pay off a threatening former pimp (played by the cool, charismatic Franco Citti), while raising a few extra lira to get her son a few nice things on the side. She implores a priest to help her son find a decent job and does a host of other things to try and get Ettore away from the life of a hood.

The problem is that her son is like she presumably was (and is still capable of being) -- a rebellious, angry child drawn to the street life. He also, almost instinctively, falls for a young whore who may or may not resemble his young mother.

This is a great film. Pasolini cares deeply for these characters. Are Ettore and his mother a Madonna and Christ as sometime prostitute and would be criminal? Perhaps. Though their sins are not necessary for their survival, their hardships and sufferings take on a religious, martyred quality. Mamma Roma is the lost, heroic sinner of the Italian lower classes who can sometimes struggle to better themselves through respectable work, faith and redemption. But she can't do enough for herself and her son by being virtuous, so she must turn to the street on occasion. And either due to his environment or his temperament, both products of his mother, Ettore, in all his youthful impatience and vigor, can't resist the effortless ennui and easy thrills of hanging out with petty hoods, stealing from whoever they can, and dallying around with a young whore.

Rome looks and feels like a prison in this film. The city feels walled off by apartment buildings, the entrance into which feels like the entrance into an ancient city -- perhaps ancient Jerusalem. Outside the modern buildings stand patches of ancient ruins. Ettore lives his life among these overlooked, neglected ruins, which perhaps foreshadow his own future. If this is to be his future it won't be because of a lack of love and effort on the part of Mama Roma; instead it will be because of the neglect of the prison of Rome, and because of his own wild, bitter heart; the heart of a boy for which Mama Roma would devote her life.