Roma (1972 film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Roma
original film poster
Directed by	Federico Fellini
Produced by	Turi Vasile
Written by	Bernardino Zapponi Federico Fellini
Starring	Peter Gonzales
Music by	Nino Rota
Release date(s)	March 16, 1972
Running time	128 min.
Language	Italian, English
IMDb profile

Roma, also known as Fellini's Roma, is a 1972 semi-autobiographical, poetic film depicting director Federico Fellini's move from his native Rimini to Rome as a youth. It is formed by a series of loosely connected episodes. The plot is minimal, and the only character to develop significantly is Rome herself. Peter Gonzales plays the young Fellini, and the film features mainly unknowns in the cast, but includes uncredited guest appearances by Anna Magnani, Marcello Mastroianni, Feodor Chaliapin, Alberto Sordi, Gore Vidal and Fellini himself.

[edit] Historical Contrasts and Modern Alienation

Fellini repeatedly contrasts Roman life in wartime Fascist Italy with its counterpart in the early 1970s. The wartime scenes emphasize the congregation of neighbors in Rome's public places such as street restaurants, a variety show, and a bomb shelter. With the exception of hippies and a conversational scene with Fellini bemoaning the loss of Roman life with radical students, the analogous congregations of the 1970s are between automobiles and motorcycles. Fellini makes a darker and more absurd comparison between the parade of prostitutes at wartime brothels and a fantasy runway fashion show featuring clerical garb and a papal audience.

[edit] Narrative Devices

The plot (such as it is) centers on two journeys to Rome by the director. The first is as a young man in the early 1940s. The second is as the director of a film crew creating a movie about Rome. The film alternates these two narratives.

Federico Fellini
Variety Lights (1950) • The White Sheik (1951) • I Vitelloni (1953) • L'Amore in Città (1953) • La Strada (1954) • Il Bidone (1955) • Nights of Cabiria (1957) • La Dolce Vita (1960) • Boccaccio '70 (1962) • 8½ (1963) • Juliet of the Spirits (1965) • Satyricon (1969) • I Clowns (1970) • Roma (1972) • Amarcord (1973) • Il Casanova di Federico Fellini (1976) • Prova d'orchestra (1979) • La città delle donne (1980) • E la Nave Va (1983) • Ginger and Fred (1986) • Intervista (1987) • La voce della luna (1990)

Federico Fellini

Variety Lights (1950) • The White Sheik (1951) • I Vitelloni (1953) • L'Amore in Città (1953) • La Strada (1954) • Il Bidone (1955) • Nights of Cabiria (1957) • La Dolce Vita (1960) • Boccaccio '70 (1962) • 8½ (1963) • Juliet of the Spirits (1965) • Satyricon (1969) • I Clowns (1970) • Roma (1972) • Amarcord (1973) • Il Casanova di Federico Fellini (1976) • Prova d'orchestra (1979) • La città delle donne (1980) • E la Nave Va (1983) • Ginger and Fred (1986) • Intervista (1987) • La voce della luna (1990)