Mamma Roma (1962)

Having renounced her ignominious past, a former streetwalker reunites with her son. However, an extortion scheme endangers her aspirations for a decent bourgeois life. Can she protect him from the same snares that wounded her youth?

Director:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writer:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Stars:

Anna Magnani, Ettore Garofolo, Franco Citti

2 wins & 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
Franco Ceccarelli	...	Carletto
Marcello Sorrentino	...	Tonino
Sandro Meschino	...	Pasquale
Franco Tovo	...	Augusto
Pasquale Ferrarese	...	Lino
Leandro Santarelli	...	Begalo

Storyline

With a fervent yearning for respectability and enough money to buy herself a brand-new life in Rome, the uninhibited, fearless, and determined former streetwalker, Mamma Roma, renounces her ignominious past to reunite with her loafing sixteen-year-old son, Ettore. Free at last from her disgusting pimp and ex-lover, Carmine, Roma is bent on making an honest living running a humble vegetable stall; however, a malicious extortion scheme and the equally insidious menace of exposure threaten to put an end to her zealous aspirations for a decent bourgeois existence. For his own sake, Ettore must be spared the violence of the grown-up world; nevertheless, can a single mother alone protect her only son from the same snares that wounded her youth?

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Plot Keywords:

prostitution | motorcycle | proletarian | fight | bartender | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

18 January 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

Мама Рома

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 removes Clementina's veil and puts it on her own head, the camera cuts to Carmine's reaction. Next to him, we can see the sides of the veil still on Clementina's head.

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Quotes

Mamma Roma: There was a neighbor of ours, a rich old man with loads of money. He dressed like Robespierre. He had a mustache and cane, like he was a king. You know how he made his money? Under fascism. Mussolini told him, "Build a district for the working class."

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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)
Performed by Joselito

User Reviews

Ode to mother's love.

"Mamma Roma"(1962) the second film directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, is the brutally realistic in its depiction of life in the slums of Rome yet lyrical ode to mother's love. Mamma Roma (Anna Magnani), a middle-aged prostitute is ready to quit her profession and to start a new life with her teenage son who had spent his childhood in the country and does not know her well. She wants a better life for herself and a meaningful future for her son, and there is not much her Mamma Roma would not do for her son. Things don't go as planned, though...

Anna Magnani was renowned for her earthy, passionate, "woman-of-the-soil" roles and she is one of the main reasons to see the film. She is Rome's flesh and soul, its spirit and symbol, its loud laugh and bitter tears.