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Fellini's Roma

Play trailer Poster for Fellini's Roma R 1972 2h 8m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
61% Tomatometer 18 Reviews 82% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
As a young man, Fellini (Peter Gonzales) leaves his small Italian town to go to the big city of Rome, live in a boarding house and cavort with the natives in the 1930s and '40s. In an alternating storyline, the older Fellini (Federico Fellini) goes back to make a movie about Rome, filming things like traffic jams at the Colosseum and the subway system, which hides underground crypts. By intercutting this footage, Fellini the director draws comparisons to the old Rome and the new.

Critics Reviews

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Pauline Kael The New Yorker Sep 21, 2023
This ringmaster feels no need to relate to the circus people. Fellini is an unparalleled extrovert, even for a profession rich in extroversion; he is so extroverted he has ‘abandoned interest in characters and is interested only in his own projections. Go to Full Review David Denby The Atlantic Jun 21, 2022
[Fellini] has totally liberated his obsessions from the discipline of telling a story or developing a character or even maintaining a comprehensible point of view. Go to Full Review Steve Erickson RogerEbert.com Dec 27, 2018
Though "Roma" has the dreamlike flow of "8 1/2" and most late Fellini films, it works here in a way that often didn't for the director. Go to Full Review Chris Shields Screen Slate Jan 14, 2020
A dizzying assault of radically stylized, pure cinema. Go to Full Review Jesús Fernández Santos El Pais (Spain) Jul 17, 2019
Fellini has constructed a fantastical documentary, in which fantasy and reality are confused. [Full Review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Nathanael Hood Audiences Everywhere Dec 27, 2018
B-
But it is a film worth seeing, if only to get the opportunity to see one of the world's greatest cities through the eyes of one of the world's greatest artists. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Patrick S @PatrickStruik Jan 6, 2026 A Fellini masterpiece. See more A. S @Abc123722 Sep 29, 2025 If you enjoy Fellini, this is another film to watch. The main character gets lost in the elaborate scenarios that one forgets about him for awhile, wondering what one is watching. Parts filmed in Rome and Cinecitta. Fellini's love of women, food, sex, and stage performance show the person he was. Raised in a fascist military school shows the person he rebelled against. See more Сonstant R @raykon Jan 21, 2024 must see, masterwork ! See more Feb 12, 2021 Part rambling travelogue, part sense-memory articulation, the experimental Roma is never not oneiric, even in its most documentary moments. Nostalgia ever collides with the grotesque in this overtly indulgent circus of art, architecture, food, sex, fashion and religion. The hand behind it all is ever present, ever manipulating this reconstruction of realities. Fewer movies land as personally and keep viewers guessing to this degree. See more David A Feb 21, 2020 There isn't really a story... this is more like a glimpse into a great artist's notebook, to see what he's thinking about, what he's remembering, what he's dreaming. "Lesser" Fellini is still the best filmmaking you'll ever see. See more Michael A Feb 18, 2020 The most ordered chaos I have ever seen See more Read all reviews
Fellini's Roma

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Federico Fellini

Director

Peter Gonzales Falcon

Fellini, Age 18

Stefano Mayore

Fellini as a Child

Pia De Doses

Princess Domitilla

Fiona Florence

Young Prostitute

Marne Maitland

Underground Guide

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Fellini's Roma

Fellini's Roma (1972) Fellini's Roma (1972) Fellini's Roma (1972) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis As a young man, Fellini (Peter Gonzales) leaves his small Italian town to go to the big city of Rome, live in a boarding house and cavort with the natives in the 1930s and '40s. In an alternating storyline, the older Fellini (Federico Fellini) goes back to make a movie about Rome, filming things like traffic jams at the Colosseum and the subway system, which hides underground crypts. By intercutting this footage, Fellini the director draws comparisons to the old Rome and the new.
Director
Federico Fellini
Producer
Turi Vasile
Screenwriter
Federico Fellini, Bernardino Zapponi
Distributor
United Artists
Production Co
Les Productions Artistes Associés
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Italian
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 14, 1972, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Apr 10, 2001
Runtime
2h 8m
Sound Mix
Mono
Aspect Ratio
35mm
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