Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Victor Khomenko (M) on February 06, 2004 at 19:54:41

You can see it on their front page.

Since it is going to be gone tomorrow, I will give the text here:

"Stylistically a perfect bridge between the excesses of Satyricon and the nostalgia of Amarcord, Federico Fellini's Roma showcases the true love that the legendary Italian director had for the Eternal City. This 1972 ode to the city of Rome is far from a coherent narrative (and considered by some to be "weaker" Fellini), but as a selection of images and sounds celebrating the famed Italian capital, it's dazzling and hugely enjoyable. Roma is impressionistic all the way, a definite filter for Fellini's unique vision of cinema, mixing autobiographical flashbacks with the travails of a present-day movie company, headed up by Fellini himself, making a film about the city. The wonderful set pieces, set to Nino Rota's marvelous score, are a testament to the power of cinema, some delicately moving (an Amarcord-like music dance hall performance during World War II that's interrupted by bombing), others outrageously over the top (a papal fashion show that's so surreal it must be seen to be believed). The coup de grвce is a breathtaking sequence in which the film crew, tagging along on an archaeological dig, happens upon an ancient Roman catacomb and watches as the beautiful murals disintegrate before their eyes. Through it all, Fellini's passions for both Rome and moviemaking shine through, especially in the film's climax, a dialogue-free sequence of motorcycles roaring through the city at night, a tour that ends at the magnificent Coliseum. At that marriage of past and present, Roma is about as perfect as cinema can get. - Mark Englehart

I can confirm that the fashion show is indeed one of the most mesrerizing scenes in the movies ever.