Product Description

Federico Fellini brings his directing and writing genius to this fantasy-laden cinematic paean teeming with the filmmaker's remembrances of a pre-World War II Rome.System Requirements:Starring: Britta Barnes Peter Gonzales Pia de Doses Federico Fellini Fiona Florence Renato Giovanneli Anna Magnini Marne Maitland and Marcello Mastroianni. Directed By: Frederico Fellini. Running Time: 119 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 2000 MGM Studios.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 027616860392

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13964 in DVD
• Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
• Released on: 2001-04-10
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: French, Italian
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 119 minutes

Amazon.com
Federico Fellini's 1972 ode to the city of Rome is far from a coherent narrative, but as a selection of images and sounds celebrating the famed Italian capital, it's dazzling and hugely enjoyable. Stylistically, it's a perfect bridge between the excesses of Satyricon and the nostalgia of Amarcord, and it showcases the true love that Fellini had for the Eternal City. Mixing autobiographical flashbacks with the travails of a present-day movie company making a film about the city (headed up by Fellini himself), Roma is an impressionistic tour de force, delivered via Fellini's unique cinematic vision. If you can't tolerate Fellini's larger-than-life approach, the sometimes-garish colors, or the circus atmosphere, you'll probably find Roma insufferable. But fans of Fellini will be in seventh heaven, especially during some of the wonderful set pieces--a music dance hall performance that's interrupted by bombing during World War II; a papal fashion show that's so surreal it must be seen to be believed; and a breathtaking sequence in which the film crew, tagging along with an archaeological dig, happens upon an ancient Roman catacomb and watches as the beautiful murals disintegrate before their eyes. Through it all, Fellini's passion for Rome (and moviemaking) shines through, especially in the film's climax, a dialogue-free sequence of motorcycles roaring through the city at night, a tour that ends at the magnificent Colosseum. At that marriage of past and present, Roma is about as perfect as cinema can get. --Mark Englehart

Customer Reviews

Hard to appreciate
Roma is a film about Rome by one of the most revered film directors who ever lived - Fellini. As a piece of simple cinema entertainment this has little to offer; there is no plot and no characterisation, which makes it tough going if you are used to traditional Hollywood films. To have some understanding of the history of Rome will certainly help, but even then you may find this difficult to take. Where the film succeeds is Fellini's amazing direction and stunning use of images and colours. If you approach this film like you would a brilliant painting then it begins to make sense. However two hours is a long time to stare at a brilliant painting!

My initial reaction is perhaps a little negative compared with previous reviewers, however, I suspect that this is a film that will improve with repeated viewings. Nevertheless if you mainly watch mainstream movies I'd advise caution before buying - rent it or watch it on TV first.

Fellini's scenic trip through Rome......
For those of you unfamiliar with the works of the late, great Italian director, Federico Fellini, ROMA is one of those films that gives you a small view of the pacing and style of his filmmaking. It is at once gaudy, bawdy, scenic, lovely and horrifying. Sometimes these feelings are simultaneous and other times they are sequential. For me, Roma felt like a series of animated postcards, taking a glimpse at "contemporary" Rome (the Rome of the 1970s, when this film was shot) in contrast with the Rome of decades before (the age of El Deuce and the height of Fascist rule). We see boisterous scenes from street life, a "typical" evening in an outdoor restaurant, shots comparing the "free love" attitude of the late 1960s and early 1970s with brothels of the 1930s, and just incidental shots of a colorful array of characters interacting with each other. Some of the venues include a burlesque theater, movie house and even a cathedral, where the cardinal pays a visit and stays for a one-of-a-kind fashion show, featuring the latest styles for priests and nuns (you just have to see the habits for yourself, to believe that they exist on film. I am thinking Flying Nun meets Flying Squirrel.).

I was really intrigued by Fellini's use of spontaneity, incidental connectedness with his subjects, and backhanded humor. For me, the narration at the beginning made the film feel like we were watching it from the unseen "third person" that often tells a story from the perspective of a fly on the wall. Our narrator makes a brief on screen appearance, but, otherwise, his narration his minimal throughout the course of the story. That really opens up the atmosphere of the film and allows us to really have our own experience with the visceral animated portrait we are presented with. It ends as suddenly as it starts, and you feel as though you have just went on the strangest journey to the "eternal city," except you aren't sure what kind of acid trip you went on to get there! But, however strong the drug concoction, it is ultimately a beautiful and interchangeably odd ride.

Fellini in his prime.
What can I say? It's Fellini doing what he does best. As with other european movies, it's the antithesis of a Hollywood movie, which is to say that it's thought provoking and demanding of the viewer.