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(1960) “When
the silence of God falls
upon people.” Gigantic,
kaleidoscopic, bitingly
satiric fresco of Europe’s
jet set and demimonde at
the dawn of the 60s,
as tabloid gossipmonger
Marcello (Mastroianni)
and his photographer travel
through the
sweet life of Rome in
thirteen episodes.
Among them: the
statue of Christ
transported by helicopter soaring
above the city, while bikinied
sunbathers wave; Marcello’s
tryst with shiner-sporting
playgirl Anouk Aimée at a
prostitute’s pad; spectacularly
endowed (“I’ve got a big talent”)
Swedish/Hollywood star Anita
Ekberg’s press conference
(“the three things I like most:
love, love, love”), her
breathless climb to the top of
St. Peter’s, and her iconic
midnight romp in the
Fontana di Trevi —
capped by a ringing
slap delivered by her
fiancé, former
Tarzan Lex Barker;
the Fatima -
wannabe “miracle”
in a small town
that results in a
rain-soaked threering
publicity circus;
the late-night party
in the palace of a
decadent aristocratic
family (with cameo by a pre-Velvet Underground Nico);
Marcello’s father’s visit, most of which he spends flirting
with Rififi’s Magali Noël; the jaded orgy at a country villa
(so notorious that some U.S. theaters advertised the
scene’s start times) and the bleary-eyed morning after by
the sea. Fellini’s first Scope film gave currency to a new
word — paparazzi — and coined a new catchphrase — the
title — and was an enormous, scandalous international
success (there were debates in the Italian Parliament as to
whether it should be censored or withdrawn entirely). To
prepare for the film “I spent many evenings with the
photographer-reporters of the Via Veneto,” but in fact it’s
all “completely invented. The Rome of which I speak is a
city of the inner self; its topography is entirely spiritual” –
Fellini. Four Oscar nominations, including Direction,
Screenplay, Art Direction, winning for Costume Design.
A PARAMOUNT RELEASE
Approx. 175 min.
1:10, 4:30, 8:00
“A beautiful new print!
If you’ve never seen it, don’t miss it –
and if you have seen it, see it again!”
– Andrew Sarris, New York Observer
Selections from Amazon.com:
 FEDERICO FELLINI: THE COMPLETE FILMS by Chris Wiegand |
 Nights of Cabiria DVD $34.75 tax included |
 I, Fellini by Charlotte Chandler (Editor), Billy Wilder |
 The Cinema of Federico Fellini by Peter E. Bondanella, Federico Fellini |
 Fellini on Fellini by Federico Fellini, Isabel Quigley (Translator) |
 Conversations With Fellini by Costanzo Constantini |
 Fellini's Films: From Postwar to Postmodern by Franke Burke |
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