Crappy film

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I couldn't help thinking, during one of the rare quiet moments of this extravaganza, how wonderful it would have been if directors with the style, ability and panache of Fellini, could have made such a film about their own capital city. What an archive we would then have had to gaze upon in wonder as we do here, at Rome. Captivating from the start this visual and plot less but loving portrait takes us on a journey through the director's eyes. Although there is no plot and this is more documentary we do begin with fictionalised titbits from Fellini's childhood and his subsequent arrival in Rome. There are fantastic sequences that swirl around street diners and street furniture and traffic. Not perhaps how I would choose to eat but so convincingly Italian. The same with impressions of entertainment halls and brothels, not to forget the moving underground scenes, all shot so immaculately and with such stunning accompanying music. Towards the end Fellini allows himself a rather large poke at the Catholic church and the pope with an amazingly over the top ecclesiastical fashion show that even outdoes the works of our own Ken Russell. Fabulous and exciting with barely a pause for breath.

"Roma" is a feature with neither plot nor timeline and composed by an edition of disconnected footages of Rome, the Eternal City. Fellini makes a homage to Rome and depicts and entwines moments of the ancient and the modern Rome, such as during the fascist period of Mussolini; building the subway; in a traffic jam; a fashion show for the Church members; brothels with clients and prostitutes on display; repression; ordinary people on the streets and restaurants. For fans of Fellini and Rome, this movie may be a must-see; otherwise, it may be boring and too long. My vote is five.Title (Brazil): "Roma de Fellini" ("Fellini's Roma")

This is my all around favourite film, although I like SF and Horror films also, this film, despite it being over 35 years old, still carries a powerful feeling to it-to me. It shows Rome through the eyes of someone who has seen it maybe for what it really is- a thoroughly confused and maze like place where things don't happen in any kind of an order, events just fall on top of one another, and you are left to sift through the mess in the hope of finding what you went there for in the first place. The film is a unique depiction of European society that is not seen anymore for the most part in this age of perfect films with perfect people having perfectly orchestrated experiences that are always just slightly left of mainstream with heavy nods to normal, which I think does not reflect the true nature of what it is to be a struggling human on this planet. This filmmaker has the balls to criticize the Roman Catholic Church, which he does in this film, showing them as mindless glory hounds, instead of the way they are mostly depicted in 99 percent of films. Roma is also crude in places, more so than what you might expect from a film made in 1972.

This is not a fiction movie. it needs to be seen with a different perspective. This is a movie about a city, one of the most beautiful and fascinating cities in the world. Fellini describes here the city, his feelings about it, his memories, the history and the people who live in it. One needs to look at this film like looking at a painting of an old master, not like at a fiction film. Then what is exposed to the viewer is a the full world of characters, some of them appearing on screen for a few seconds but stay in memory forever. It is the landscape of today, the memories and the history, the history that when touched by the air of the present melts under our own eyes as it happens in the fabulous underground scene. From the many films of Fellini this is one of the most personal, and a touching one. I loved it.