Fellini's Roma (1972)
"Roma" (original title)

A fluid, unconnected and sometimes chaotic procession of scenes detailing the various people and events of life in Italy's capital.

Director:

Federico Fellini

Writers:

Federico Fellini (story), Bernardino Zapponi (story),

Stars:

Peter Gonzales Falcon, Fiona Florence, Britta Barnes

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Peter Gonzales Falcon	...	Fellini, Age 18 (as Peter Gonzales)
Fiona Florence	...	Dolores - Young Prostitute
Britta Barnes
Pia De Doses	...	Princess Domitilla
Marne Maitland	...	Guide in the Catacombs
Renato Giovannoli	...	Cardinal Ottaviani
Elisa Mainardi	...	Pharmacist's wife / Cinema spectator
Raout Paule	...	(unconfirmed)
Galliano Sbarra	...	Music Hall Compere
Paola Natale
Ginette Marcelle Bron	...	(as Marcelle-Ginette Bron)
Mario Del Vago
Alfredo Adami
Stefano Mayore	...	Fellini as a Child

Storyline

A virtually plotless, gaudy, impressionistic portrait of Rome through the eyes of one of its most famous citizens. blending autobiography (a reconstruction of Fellini's own arrival in Rome during the Mussolini years; a trip to a brothel and a music-hall) with scenes from present-day Roman life (a massive traffic jam on the autostrada; a raucous journey through Rome after dark; following an archaeological team through the site of the Rome subways; an unforgettable ecclesiastical fashion show)

---

Plot Keywords:

italy | trip | fashion show | brothel | ancient art | 

---

Taglines:

The fall of the Roman Empire 1931-1972.

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian German English French Latin Spanish

Release Date:

15 October 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fellini's Roma

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Gross:

SEK 934,000 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ultra Film, Les Productions Artistes Associés

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Peter Gonzales Falcon's hairstyles are all in the longish 1972 mode, even though the portions of the film in which he appears are supposed to be taking place thirty or more years earlier, at which time men's hair was cut much, much shorter, and would never be worn as it appears in this film.

---

Connections

Referenced in Butterfly (2004)

User Reviews

Bravo, Maestro!

Beautiful and colorful Fellini's Roma (1972) is a very enjoyable film with a subtle message and a lot of heart. The magnificent Eternal City, one of the most famous cities in the world is deservingly the main character of this very personal for its creator, Maestro Fellini, film that can be described as a montage of unrelated scenes.

"Roma" consists of three parts. In the beginning, young Federico, the student in his native Rimini, learns about Rome from movies, plays, works of art, and from school history lessons. Then, as a young man, he arrives to Eternal City, strange, loud, and confusing on the outbreak of World War II. The third part takes us to the beginning of 70th when Fellini, the famous master is creating a visually unforgettable, full of life and history portrait of Rome consisting of several vignettes that take us back and forth in time and director's memory.

I think the reason I enjoyed "Roma" is that its vignettes have so much heart and love, irony , and interest to the master's favorite city, its past and present, to its streets, palaces, and cathedrals, and to its people, their laughs, smiles, and tears. Some of the stories are amusing (variety show, first Federico's dinner in one of the outside restaurants where everybody knows everybody) while some are very emotional.

A powerful scene takes place in an underground tunnel where subway construction workers discovered an ancient palace filled with beautiful frescoes of Ancint Rome period that later slowly fade out and disappear before our eyes taking with them a mystery of times long gone.

I loved the fashion show of nuns and priests; I liked the sequence with the prostitutes on display – both are typical Fellini's surreal scenes, funny and sad in the same time.

In improvement from "Satyricon," this time, Fellini, did not have any central characters presented in every vignette; and result is more satisfying: this is one of the best documentary style movies that I have seen. The main character in all its stories is Rome and that's the only character we need here.

Gracie Federico!