Search - Fellini's Roma on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Nudity, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Language Movie Release: 1972 DVD Release: 04/10/2001 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: Italian Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 59 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 10 Genres: Comedy Drama, Satire, Ensemble Film, Urban Comedy

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 episode 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, All Movie Guide

Britta Barnes
Federico Fellini - Himself

Chronicling the fall of the Roman Empire (from Mussolini's Fascist '30s to the student counterculture movements of the decadent '60s and '70s) as imagined by the great Italian film director, Fellini's Roma is a kaleidoscopic, hallucinatory, visually startling and meandering film that is considered by many to be one of the maestro's more memorable films from his '70s output. MGM's disc is sumptuous. Picture quality is stable and vibrant throughout, displaying a sharpness and clarity previously not seen on their VHS video release. The disc is also subtitled into English, French, and Spanish, though unlike MGM's DVD release of Fellini Satyricon, there is no English-dubbed option. The previously mentioned video release was offered in only an English-language dubbed version. The film's Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono soundtrack is serviceable, though it does lack definition. This is a very mild concern, considering the film's age. The dated yet stylish original theatrical is also included. ~ Derek Hill, All Movie Guide