July 2nd: FELLINI'S ROMA (Federico Fellini, 1972)

A recreation of Fellini's first visit to Rome in the 1930s is juxtaposed with modern life in the city.

Writer-director Federico Fellini is at the forefront of Italian cinema, his biggest creative strides during the art film boom of the 1960s made him an international icon. Starting out in the industry post-World War II, he originally trained under neorealist filmmaker Roberto Rossesllini, and his early films reflected this background. His major breakthrough came with his depiction of Rome's debaucherous nightlife, La Dolce Vita (1960),which battled church censorship, broke box office records and was a critical favorite.

The next period of his career found him mining his subconscious for dream-inspired films, beginning with the arthouse classic 8½ (1963), and in the early 70s Fellini began blending personal reminisces or historical matter with fantasy, such as it is with Roma.  This time around he included a film-within-a-film, with the director playing himself in the middle of a production about Rome. The film was shot on location as well as in Cinecitta Studios (where most of Fellini's sets over the years were constructed).

The cast includes Italian acting legends Marcello Mastroianni and Anna Magnani(also playing themselves), American actor Dennis Christopher, American writer Gore Vidal, and future horror film queen "Elvira". Behind the camera is former collaborator Giuseppe Rottuno (The Leopard, Satyricon), with a score by Nino Rota (The Godfather, 8½).

While Fellini is best known for his phantasmagorical images, much attention was paid to the sound work, particularly the overbearing noise of present-day Rome, with its loud citizenry and the traffic of cars and scooters. Cutting back and forth between time periods, Fellini pokes fun at both the fascist state of Mussolini as well as the hippies and student radicals.

The film was selected for the 1972 Cannes Film Festival, where it won a technical prize. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film.

Running time is approx. 2 hours.