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Britta Barnes, Federico Fellini, Pia De Doses, Angela de Leo, Mario del Vago ... see more see more... , Fiona Florence , Renato Giovanneli , Pedro Gonzales , John Francis Lane , Elisa Mainardi , Marne Maitland , Stefano Majore , Marcello Mastroianni , Galliano Sbarra , Alvaro Vitali , Anna Magnani , Cassandra Peterson , Alberto Sordi , Gore Vidal , Mimmo Poli

Fellini's Roma is a virtually plotless autobiographical tribute to Rome, Italy, featuring narration by Fellini himself and a mixture of real-life footage and fictional set pieces. It flows from episod... read more read more...e to episode, beginning with the director's early years arriving in Rome in 1931 during the time of Mussolini. Played by Stefano Mayore as a child, he visits the city with classmates and becomes infatuated. Played by Peter Gonzales at age 18, the young Fellini moves in to a tenement building and explores the wild characters living in neighborhood. The events that follow switch between the past and contemporary times, including a story line that involves a 1970s film crew making a movie about Rome. He also incorporates segments of Roman history and problems in the government, including an improvised speech from Gore Vidal. Throughout this journey there are visits to an outdoor restaurant, a movie theater, a music hall, and a brothel. In one famously surreal segment, groups of clergymen gather together for a Catholic fashion show spectacle. After a visit to a street festival and some on-camera interviews, the film concludes with shots of motorcycles driving by the Colosseum. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

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81% liked it

5,972 ratings

Critics

62% liked it

13 critics

R, 2 hr. 8 min.

Directed by: Federico Fellini

Release Date: October 15, 1972

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DVD Release Date: April 10, 2001

Stats: 286 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (286)


  • May 16, 2011
    I think Fellini was quite self-indulgent during this period of his career, not really a problem if you're a fan of his work but those that are unfamiliar with his humour, editing style and love of Italy and its people should probably start with another film and leave this till la... read morest. I found it to be one of his funnier films, visually stunning but then also visually disappointing considering the brilliant Satyricon made just a few years previous. I really liked it though, it's a sort of mix between Satyricon and Amarcord and I find the three film compliment each other really well. If Fellini doesn't make you fall in love with Rome then no one will!
  • June 29, 2009
    Can become a bit tiresome but cannot be judged from the point of view of plot and acting. It's a personal celebration of what the city of Rome means to the director, with its' history and its' huge variety of wild characters in the neighborhood. One can't deny the director's sta... read morertling visuals.

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  • June 22, 2008
    Really fascinating film from Fellini. One day I'll make a movie about the place where I was born: Atlantis!
  • April 25, 2005
    [font=Century Gothic][color=green]"Fellini's Roma" is Federico Fellini's enjoyable tribiute to the city he loved in his own inimicable style. He goes from the present to the past of World War II, while also providing an educational history lesson. Through it all, Fellini showed... read more that he most enjoyed the company of the common man over the upper classes. The movie encompasses that in a very earthy demeanor.[/color][/font]
  • September 9, 2009
    Surreal and funny (= felinesque), but the cinematography is awful, and that is a very important aspect in Fellini's cinema.
  • October 4, 2008
    Fellini's obsessiveness ultimately became his nemesis.Roma is an homage,cameos and fantasies (maybe his dreams and nightmares parading) and a hypnotic altogether atmosphere circulating between past and present.In order to show a prophetic future,Federico embarks on an unsafe jour... read moreney of image which is successful despite the many flaws.
  • February 19, 2012
    Impressionistic narrative of Rome's history told through the shared lenses of collective and personal history. It's Fellini, so there are some strikingly surreal images and oddball characters, but this is, overall, a spectacular valentine to the director's adopted city. The fin... read moreale--quiet, without explanatory context--was particularly moving, and the Gore Vidal scene was a splendid treat.
  • August 16, 2009
    A plotless, dreamy, hypnotic, visual ode to old and (then) new Rome. It thrilled me to realize I had walked the same steps as Fellini from a trip to Rome several years ago. Favorite moments: the discovery of the frescoes, the outdoor dinner scene, the papal fashion show (yowza!),... read more and the subtle and small but adequately handsome presence of Peter Gonzales Falcon as the young Fellini.
  • July 19, 2008
    Though there is really no plot, this impressionistic ode to Fellini's favorite corner of the world is filled with adoration. A few scenes in particular are priceless.
  • April 25, 2008
    Well if you like film-making and haven't watched this one ... do it ASAP ... I repeat ASAP

    Probably the perfect film that can be made by a hand held camera without a plot ... a straight forward, to-the-point documentary perspective of Fillini for his favorite city in the world.
    ... read more
    Absolutely stunning ...

Critic Reviews


Vincent Canby
May 9, 2005
Vincent Canby, New York Times

The city that Federico Fellini explores for almost two hours bears little resemblance to the real Rome. Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Fellini isn't just giving us a lot of flashy scenes, he's building a narrative that has a city for its protagonist instead of a single character. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
April 25, 2011
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

A semi-docu, Fellini's Roma is as much about the eccentric director as it is about this endlessly fascinating city Full Review

Fernando F. Croce
September 6, 2009
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion

Eternal City fugue Full Review

August 29, 2006
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Roma, a confounding and confused semi-documentary, tried the patience of even the most devoted Fellini fans. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
March 12, 2004
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

What Fellini can't give us, is what's not in him--a true sense of the political and the art. Full Review

Alex Sandell
July 25, 2002
Alex Sandell, Juicy Cerebellum

I'm pretty mixed over this film. It never did much for me, but I've never hated it, either. You either love Fellini, or you hate him. I guess I'm that weird anomaly that doesn't care.

John A. Nesbit
August 1, 2001
John A. Nesbit, Old School Reviews

Fellini is as firmly associated with Rome as Julius Caesar. Full Review

Cole Smithey
February 21, 2008
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

No review available.

Emanuel Levy
June 30, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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