City of Women
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Movie Reviews of City of Women
Movie Review: Not Fellini's best, but not his worst
Summary: 4 Stars
First, I have to say that I am a fan of late-period Fellini. If you prefer his earlier work (pre-Juliet of the Spirits), you may not like his later, more indulgent work.City of Women is about women, specifically feminists. Women were always one of Fellini's favorite topics, and this film is his attempt to understand the various (often contradictory) aspects of the feminist movement (or movements). As such it's rambling, with no real center or plot to speak of. Marcello Mastroianni (Fellini's favorite alter-ego) plays womanizer Snaporaz, who, upon following a woman off of a train, winds up in the midst of a kind of feminist convention. After roller-skating down some stairs and bumming a ride with a nymphomaniac and some junkies young enough to be his granddaughters, he winds up in a kind of temple to womanizing. It's a strange film.
This film doesn't approach the experimental or lyrical depths of its successor, And The Ship Sails On, but in my opinion it's superior to its predecessor, Orchestra Rehearsal.
The DVD has a decent transfer and a few extras: a brief interview with Fellini (always a treat) and a featurette containing interviews with some Fellini associates and scholars. A decent DVD of a decent film.
Movie Review: Terrible transfer
Summary: 4 Stars
This film is, like most reviewers seem to think, on of Fellini's greatest films. My first viewing was on vhs and I believe that the transfer on this dvd is worse. It is far and away the worst dvd I have, loaded with artifacting and all sorts of digital noise. Is it possible that I have recieved a poor copy, yes but not likely considering I traded it for another of the same film and they were identical as suspected. Alas, it should not deter the film lover from renting, or buying, this film for it is a masterpiece of film making.Movie Review: A garish, overly-indulgent collage of sexual stereotypes
Summary: 3 Stars
Marcello, our mild-mannered protagonist of few words and thick glasses, follows a femme-fatale off a train into the wilderness, only to find himself in what he describes, baffled, as a "feminist convention." Angry Italian women chant, do yoga, put on plays, and screech about male oppression and abolishing fellatio. Marcello wanders through the strange world, completely overwhelmed by high-pitched laughter and the garish stereotypes unfolding around every corner.
The tale takes on a fairytale quality as Marcello meets a lecherous old woman who claims she's taking him back to his train, but really intends to (and partially succeeds in) molesting him. Also in fairytale fashion, he finally finds refuge in a mysterious castle owned by the male stereotype from the opposite end of the gender spectrum: a gun toting, hunting-dog-owning, bath-robed, bearded man who does nothing but boast about his sexual exploits. Here Marcello attends a party which seemingly intends to contrast as much as possible with the "feminist convention."
Then suddenly his girlfriend Elena appears at this party and bitterly screams accusations at him, only to just as suddenly disappear and be replaced by a pair of giggling bikini-clad girls. Then the story looses all semblance of structured plot as Marcello careens through a burlesque-style reenactment of all the childhood memories that shaped his sexual psyche. Then the pace is slowed as he is forced to face angry hordes of women again, who relentlessly and bitterly ask him questions he cannot answer. As the viewer and Marcello wonder bleakly how he will ever get out of this mess or make sense of all this, conveniently Marcello wakes up on the train again. It was all a dream!
Like all of Fellini's works, this movie is cinematically beautiful, but unlike most of Fellini's works this picture lacks depth, and seems to be an expensive exercise in "Because I Can." If viewers are looking to introduce themselves to Fellini, I would recommend La Strada or La Dolce Vita instead.
Movie Review: Late period Fellini
Summary: 2 Stars
Starting as early as Juliet of the Spirits, Fellini began a trend toward opulence in his films, at the expense of meaningful ideas. I have no qualms with this decision, he was growing as a director, exploring color and production design more fully than screenwriting. We will always have his indisputable classics like La Strada, Nights of Cabiria and La Dolce Vita. Amarcord is perhaps his best color film. Fellini was probably seduced by the stylistic choices that color afforded, allowing his imagination to run rampant. That is exactly what happened with City of Women.This film is much better by the end than you would have thought had you walked out at the beginning. I almost turned it off finding it lame, and it is rather thin. Marcello Mastroianni gets off at the wrong stop on a train and ends up in a nightmarish and yes, Felliniesque City of Women. The film sends up feminists, and there's even a lone "macho" man who lives in a huge castle.
The film has fantastic visuals, but they overpower any meaning that there might be in them. One memorable exception shows Mastroianni sliding down a huge slide as his sexual history flashes before his eyes.
I have yet to see a noble film featuring sex as its theme. City of Women is eye candy, and understanding that, you'll probably have a good time.