City of Women

Rating:
Summary: Not Fellini's best, but not his worst
Review: First, I have to say that I am a fan of late-period Fellini. If you prefer his earlier work (pre-Juliet of the Spirits), you may not like his later, more indulgent work.

City of Women is about women, specifically feminists. Women were always one of Fellini's favorite topics, and this film is his attempt to understand the various (often contradictory) aspects of the feminist movement (or movements). As such it's rambling, with no real center or plot to speak of. Marcello Mastroianni (Fellini's favorite alter-ego) plays womanizer Snaporaz, who, upon following a woman off of a train, winds up in the midst of a kind of feminist convention. After roller-skating down some stairs and bumming a ride with a nymphomaniac and some junkies young enough to be his granddaughters, he winds up in a kind of temple to womanizing. It's a strange film.

This film doesn't approach the experimental or lyrical depths of its successor, And The Ship Sails On, but in my opinion it's superior to its predecessor, Orchestra Rehearsal.

The DVD has a decent transfer and a few extras: a brief interview with Fellini (always a treat) and a featurette containing interviews with some Fellini associates and scholars. A decent DVD of a decent film.

Rating:
Summary: Not Fellini's best, but not his worst
Review: First, I have to say that I am a fan of late-period Fellini. If you prefer his earlier work (pre-Juliet of the Spirits), you may not like his later, more indulgent work.

City of Women is about women, specifically feminists. Women were always one of Fellini's favorite topics, and this film is his attempt to understand the various (often contradictory) aspects of the feminist movement (or movements). As such it's rambling, with no real center or plot to speak of. Marcello Mastroianni (Fellini's favorite alter-ego) plays womanizer Snaporaz, who, upon following a woman off of a train, winds up in the midst of a kind of feminist convention. After roller-skating down some stairs and bumming a ride with a nymphomaniac and some junkies young enough to be his granddaughters, he winds up in a kind of temple to womanizing. It's a strange film.

This film doesn't approach the experimental or lyrical depths of its successor, And The Ship Sails On, but in my opinion it's superior to its predecessor, Orchestra Rehearsal.

The DVD has a decent transfer and a few extras: a brief interview with Fellini (always a treat) and a featurette containing interviews with some Fellini associates and scholars. A decent DVD of a decent film.

Rating:
Summary: Late period Fellini
Review: Starting as early as Juliet of the Spirits, Fellini began a trend toward opulence in his films, at the expense of meaningful ideas. I have no qualms with this decision, he was growing as a director, exploring color and production design more fully than screenwriting. We will always have his indisputable classics like La Strada, Nights of Cabiria and La Dolce Vita. Amarcord is perhaps his best color film. Fellini was probably seduced by the stylistic choices that color afforded, allowing his imagination to run rampant. That is exactly what happened with City of Women.
This film is much better by the end than you would have thought had you walked out at the beginning. I almost turned it off finding it lame, and it is rather thin. Marcello Mastroianni gets off at the wrong stop on a train and ends up in a nightmarish and yes, Felliniesque City of Women. The film sends up feminists, and there's even a lone "macho" man who lives in a huge castle.
The film has fantastic visuals, but they overpower any meaning that there might be in them. One memorable exception shows Mastroianni sliding down a huge slide as his sexual history flashes before his eyes.
I have yet to see a noble film featuring sex as its theme. City of Women is eye candy, and understanding that, you'll probably have a good time.

Rating:
Summary: Late period Fellini
Review: Starting as early as Juliet of the Spirits, Fellini began a trend toward opulence in his films, at the expense of meaningful ideas. I have no qualms with this decision, he was growing as a director, exploring color and production design more fully than screenwriting. We will always have his indisputable classics like La Strada, Nights of Cabiria and La Dolce Vita. Amarcord is perhaps his best color film. Fellini was probably seduced by the stylistic choices that color afforded, allowing his imagination to run rampant. That is exactly what happened with City of Women.
This film is much better by the end than you would have thought had you walked out at the beginning. I almost turned it off finding it lame, and it is rather thin. Marcello Mastroianni gets off at the wrong stop on a train and ends up in a nightmarish and yes, Felliniesque City of Women. The film sends up feminists, and there's even a lone "macho" man who lives in a huge castle.
The film has fantastic visuals, but they overpower any meaning that there might be in them. One memorable exception shows Mastroianni sliding down a huge slide as his sexual history flashes before his eyes.
I have yet to see a noble film featuring sex as its theme. City of Women is eye candy, and understanding that, you'll probably have a good time.

Rating:
Summary: Terrible transfer
Review: This film is, like most reviewers seem to think, on of Fellini's greatest films. My first viewing was on vhs and I believe that the transfer on this dvd is worse. It is far and away the worst dvd I have, loaded with artifacting and all sorts of digital noise. Is it possible that I have recieved a poor copy, yes but not likely considering I traded it for another of the same film and they were identical as suspected. Alas, it should not deter the film lover from renting, or buying, this film for it is a masterpiece of film making.

Rating:
Summary: Finally the best of Fellini makes it to DVD!
Review: Underrated by moviegoers at large, and underappreciated even by Fellini fans, "City of Women" is in my opinion the best movie Fellini has made. With its dream-like but devastatingly accurate script, Fellini has poured into this movie everything he has learned about women... Awesome!

Until now, fans of the movie had to make do with poor VHS tape transfers, since the film never made it into laserdisc. No more; happily, the new DVD anamorphic transfer is quite good! A must have for Fellini fans.

Rating:
Summary: Finally the best of Fellini makes it to DVD!
Review: Underrated by moviegoers at large, and underappreciated even by Fellini fans, "City of Women" is in my opinion the best movie Fellini has made. With its dream-like but devastatingly accurate script, Fellini has poured into this movie everything he has learned about women... Awesome!

Until now, fans of the movie had to make do with poor VHS tape transfers, since the film never made it into laserdisc. No more; happily, the new DVD anamorphic transfer is quite good! A must have for Fellini fans.