Fellini - Satyricon
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Movie Reviews of Fellini - Satyricon
Movie Review: Prepare for the feast
Summary: 5 Stars
I read a review about this masterpiece being disjointed. Well, the only thing disjointed was the review.
This unmitigated classic could only have been made the greatest filmmaker of-all-time, the master Fellini. Though La Strada is probably his greatest movie, this one could be a greater achievement, as it does not benefit from the acting prowess of Quinn, Masina and Basehart or the likes. Those who find the story to be disjointed must live in very ordered world and not one that I consider to be normal, one full of incidental consequence.
The story follows two young men, one fair and relatively naive, and the other dark and cruelly savvy. We watch as they play tug-a-war with their nubile-like boy-toy through an incredible array of unforgettable places and events in ancient Roma and beyond. These scenes are so vivid that fors years they have disturbed many not ready for such an odyssey, disturbed to the point that they can't follow the rather simple story line. Granted, it's a remarkable journey, one I taken many times. One I've taken so many times that I've forgotten whether I've only watched the movie or if I was actually there.
This was the first movie I remember to have a Making of the Movie short shown on TV prior and during its release. It was called A Director's Notebook and it showed how Fellini collected stories from psychics, sages and soothsayers as he had them running in and out of ancient ruins in the dead of night. They were running left and right, arms flailing in convulsive trances and every so often one would come running out of the darkness and relate a spirited anecdote that Fedrico would quickly jot down just in time to receive another. Whether or not it was really conceived this way, it was fascinating. I prefer to believe it.
In any case, if you haven't seen Satyricon and you're the kind of person who can stomach the extreme limits of hedonism, you are in for an experience you can only have once in your life for once seen you will then be there and no longer have luxury of that voyeuristic POV. You will be part of the painting on the wall.
Enjoy the feast!
Movie Review: the fellini paradox
Summary: 5 Stars
Satyricon is a film that may have multiple functions: it can be viewed as a "satire" of hedonistic Rome, portraying the emptiness of a life driven by banalities through the coldness with which Ascilto, Encolpius and the rest of the "supporting" (i think more of- "incidental") cast is presented and developed. We only keep a record of Ascilto and Encolpius' doings, while the rest of the characters involved vanish, disappear with their affairs unresolved, perhaps as a metaphor for the lightness of a life lived only for the purpose of receiving pleasure.
On the other hand, and paraphrasing Andy Warhol, it can be understood as a stationary work of art... a movie that acts as a hanging portrait: a visual treat, purely for the sake of pleasure (here the paradox!). Like Warhol used to say about his movies of men sleeping: something to look at, that i can go to the kitchen and return and will still be there, beautiful. The characters' handsomeness, the exciting, beautiful sets one after the other, the odd ugliness that becomes strange beauty being something only Fellini can accomplish... and most of all, the straying away from any sincere human feelings or eroticism, in order to keep any actual emotional involvement at bay, make it a worthy "picture" to look at for the hours of its duration.
Fellini surely had a blast making this film, and it shows. He added and substracted oddities, freaks, epic beauties and creatures as he pleased. Scene after scene, incoherently put together as they are, something shocking or hypnotizing awaits. He loosely based himself on a story that lent itself to be ornamented, and transformed it into the greatest and most imitated trip/movie ever.
The film therefore can be interpreted as either of these two options, or as both, or as anything one wants it to be; in this sense, it's anamorphic and subjective. One thing is sure, though: it is bound to keep your eyes fixed on the screen. You can get up for a while and return, and it will still be there in all its color and charm. Whether you wish to analyze its meanings and symbolism does not affect its value entirely, because it works either way.
Movie Review: One of the best films I've ever seen
Summary: 5 Stars
I firmly believe that if one does not "get" this film, then they are the type of person this film is satirizing. Something tells me that Fellini, with this film, came closer to illustrating the actual ancient Rome than anybody. It shows the pitfalls of superstition, how drugs and illusion play a role in what people have called "witchcraft","voodoo","macumba" and such. It shows the unmasked view of the delight that some people take in others misery, in watching them suffer, and in confusing and bewildering them with smoke and mirrors. I enjoyed the scenes that depicted the morally reprehensible theatre of ancient Rome, especially in using period sound effects to illustrate how what we today see and hear in film and theatre is not so far advanced from the illusions that the ancient Romans used to propagandize and marginalize the lives of it's people. The parallel to modern society is so great that those who fit that materialistic mold won't get it, because their minds will protect them from the truth. However, we see over-indulgent despotic emperors using their wealth and power to seduce the minds of the populace. We see the same social elite engaging in disgusting orgies of food and sex. The main character, Encolpius, believing himself to be on a path of discovery is actually being lead through a maze of snares and traps at the delight of his so-called mentor who not only fakes his own death, but shows up to taunt Encolpius with this fact. This film is a such a startling comparison to modern life that it will stop all temporal arrogance. How dare we think we're so advanced when we can't even get from here to there without burying the earth beneath us with concrete and polluting our own air. This is Rome, we live in Rome, it's only been transplanted over here and updated to "modern sensibilities" but Rome is still as decadent and wasteful as ever, as if we think we're rising above nature by destroying it. Well, isn't that how "civilization" works? Destroy one people's way of life and force them to conform to yours. This is Satyricon.Movie Review: You don't get it? You may be the one being taunted,friend.
Summary: 5 Stars
I firmly believe that if one does not "get" this film, then they are the type of person this film is satirizing. Something tells me that Fellini, with this film, came closer to illustrating the atmosphere of ancient Rome than anybody. It shows the pitfalls of superstition, how drugs and illusion play a role in what people have called "witchcraft","voodoo","macumba" and such. It shows the unmasked view of the delight that some people take in others' misery, in watching them suffer, and in confusing and bewildering them with smoke and mirrors. I enjoyed the scenes that depicted the morally reprehensible theatre of ancient Rome, especially in using period sound effects to illustrate how what we today see and hear in film and theatre is not so far advanced from the illusions that the ancient Romans used to propagandize and marginalize the lives of it's people. The parallel to modern society is so great that those who fit that materialistic mold won't get it, because their minds will protect them from the truth. However, we see over-indulgent despotic emperors using their wealth and power to seduce the minds of the populace. We see the same social elite engaging in disgusting orgies of food and sex. The main character, Encolpius, believing himself to be on a path of discovery is actually being lead through a maze of snares and traps at the delight of his so-called mentor. Soon one might be asking themselves if this man is mentor or tor-mentor to poor Encolpius. This film is a such a startling comparison to modern life that it could stop all temporal arrogance. How dare we think we're so advanced when our society behaves the same as they do, only the names and methods have changed. This is Rome, we live in Rome, it's only been transplanted over here and updated to "modern sensibilities" but Rome is still as decadent and wasteful as ever, as if we think we're rising above nature by destroying it. Well, isn't that how "civilization" works? Destroy one people's way of life and force them to conform to yours. This is Satyricon.Movie Review: Fellini's best film, but in English
Summary: 5 Stars
I was dining with some friends in Florence, when someone asked "Which is Fellini's best film?" Three of us answered in unison "Satyricon".
At its opening at the Venice Film Festival in 1969 "the normally reserved press corps gave the film a five-minute ovation ... the Venice showing was so wildly popular that festival tickets, normally 2,000 lire ($3.20), were being sold on the black market at 60,000 lire (about $100) apiece." (Time, 10 Sep 1969). It was nominated for an Oscar in 1971.
There are two misconceptions about Satyricon. The first is that it has no plot. This is not true. The problem is that the book that it is based on has only survived in fragments, and the film imitates this. See the plot synopsis at IMDB for a full description of the plot.
The second misconception is that the lip-synch is bad. What the world has apparently forgotten is that Satyricon was Fellini's one and only English-language film. The three leading characters are played by English and Americans (Potter, Keller, Born) who speak no Italian. If you watch the English language version you will see that the lip-synch is just fine (and the text much more lyrical; amazingly the English subtitles on this version are translations of the Italian dubbing, which is of course a translation of the English soundtrack).
So in conclusion: this is a must-have film, but watch it with the English sound-track on.
(And if the distributors are reading this, please include the film "Ciao Federico" as an extra in the future, since it is about the making of Satyricon).