Rating: 
Summary: 2757 (Ab Urbe Condita)
Review: Would "Caligula" or "Nero" be shocked at what their city, the Eternal City, has become so many years into the distant future? Or would they (probably more likely) find themselves fitting right in somehow? This is one of the notions that I found myself pondering as I watched this movie. It really is a great movie, and it is certainly worth any true film fan's time. I may have even liked (some of it at least) better than (again, "some of") La Dolce Vita.
Having grown up in an Italian family - my father was born in a "pagliarone" ( roughly, slang dialect term meaning "straw hut") in an ancient and very rural village probably not much unlike the one Fellini's main character ventures out to Rome from - I myself was definitely right at home , so to speak, watching scenes like the famous "dinner on the piazza". (Personally I could watch that scene again and again and not get tired of it, but...maybe it is "an Italian thing", so to speak, and others would not find it so amusing). However there certainly is no dearth of general humour to be found in the antics of the wild cast of characters which Fellini always brings into his films. And Roma of course is no exception to this. For example the bedridden obese old woman in a hairnet, who owns the building that he stays in in Rome when he first arrives in Rome, who tells him, "now let's just live in peace and not bust each other's balls"! Or the bald old man who does a rather convincing Mussolini impersonation. My personal favorite though would probably be the ultra-tanned "Continental" type of guy who approaches the female American tourist the second she gets off the bus, telling her, "You VERY bella" and offering to take her picture for her. Or the young man in the piazza scene (which is supposed to have taken place some thirty years prior) who is wearing a gold medallion and one of those black nylon "do-rags" (the kind that rap stars wear today), yelling up to his dark beautiful brooding girlfriend (played by a young Elvira, "mistress of the dark", by the way!) to get down to the piazza before he throws her off the balcony. Sure these are walking stereotypes, these characters, and negative ones at that. But, as they say, there is a kernel of truth (at least) in all stereotypes is there not? For instance the entire "dinner on the piazza" scene, any Italian or Italian-American must admit, does definitely resemble some sort of "prototypical" pre-emigration summer-night-in-Bensonhurst or some place like that, with plenty of gold chains, "dago-t's", and "pane e vino" to go around.
On a more serious note however the most touching scene (and this is a point that is usually generally agreed upon I think by most of the movie's fans) is the scene of the sudden (and apparently accidental) destruction of the ancient Roman frescoes by the modern work-crew. Obviously this is Fellini's artistic condemnation , if you will, of the massive industrialization of the City in modern times, and the (clearly potentially disastrous) effects of what we may call the "godless modern" encountering the ancient and sacred. Cruel and loud machinery encountering the long-buried, the "resting-in-peace", the, once again, "sacred". Such imagery, like Fellini's vision of the vanishing ancient frescoes, is so evocative it can truly make the viewer want to weep.
Athough Rome has improved much since Fellini filmed it back in 1972, in this film, during both of the time periods that he shows it to us, the City appears to have been delusional. Vaguely delirious with fever perhaps. Or in the throes of a long restless night full of tossings-and-turnings and wild "half-waking" dreams. And it is these dreams that in fact constitute the "images" and "vignettes" that Fellini shows to us throughout the film.
Overall, in comparison with the (mostly) worthless garbage that is cluttering the racks at your local neighborhood video rental store, this film (ANY of Fellini's films for that matter) would certainly be much more rewarding for the would-be connoisseur of truly good movies to pick up and take home tonight.
Rating:
Summary: Sublime...
Review: ...This movie is the ultimate achievement of film on film by a man who if he had been a painter would have been the equal of Picasso or Rembrandt or if he were a novelist would have taken home a Nobel prize. He went well beyond narrative in this film (as he did in his other masterpiece of the period, Amarcord) & into the realm of Jungian cultural myth, dreams & pre-consciousness. A magnificent example of Fellini's great resourcefulness & imagination. Who has come even close in the last 30 years?
Rating: 
Summary: Odd, but not odd enough
Review: An interesting film to watch once. I loved Fellini's Satyricon, and was searching for another like that. This one is disturbing, but not disturbing enough for me. A glimpse from Fellini's point of view into the life of Romans. It gets boring at times. It doesn't make me want to take a trip to Rome.
Rating:
Summary: Odd, but not odd enough
Review: An interesting film to watch once. I loved Fellini's Satyricon, and was searching for another like that. This one is disturbing, but not disturbing enough for me. A glimpse from Fellini's point of view into the life of Romans. It gets boring at times. It doesn't make me want to take a trip to Rome.
Rating:
Summary: Rome Sweet Rome
Review: Federico Fellini is a master and it is out of question. It is impossible to watch any of his movies and not to be fascinated --even if you don't like it. His images are dreamy and his stories deal with absurdity as if it were the most natural thing in the world. And it he did like nobody else. This is a genius trademark.'Roma' is not among his most famous or praised movie, but it doesn't make of this little gem a lesser picture. Rather than a regular filme, with a sequencial narrative, introduction, climax etc, the movie consists in many vignettes in differente periods --past, present-- that is set in Rome. But the main character is the city itself. Things that have made of Rome what it is are there, such as pasta (typical Italian food), the art in the streets (like statues), Catholic religion... I find it impossible to watch the movie and not be seduced by its beauty and inteligence. The images can be unforgettable. My favorite sequences are the one with the afrescos in the ancient Roman catacomb and the papal fashion show. They are surreal, they are funny, they are unforgetable. Past and present try to live to together in one of the oldest cities in the world, but it may not be possible. Like the old afrescos, the ancient city surrunders to the modernity. Really? Not, sure, because in the end motorcycles and Colosseum can live side by side-- rather than spoling each other, they enhance the other's beauty. And we find out that there is no place like Rome.
Rating:
Summary: One of the giants films of Federico !
Review: Fellini paid his personal tribute to Roma , and he memorialized himself for the first time ; this is simply one the most ravishing films in any age , filled with bitter humor and incisive insights .
Fede built the movie as a set of delightful vignettes , making a great journey around the great city .
From the initial sequence in which we are in the middle of a hell traffic to the warm rendition of that admirable and unforgettable Anna Magnani the greatest actress of the italian cinema ever , but when you watch the recreation of the WW2 music hall and the unforgettable parade in the Vatican for priest and nuns you will be absolutely sure that no other filmmaker (with the supreme exception of Luis Buñuel) has been able to state a freedom state with barroque and dazzling images and sardonic approach as FeFe.
Rating:
Summary: Startling urban images
Review: Fellini takes the viewer on a tour of the city that becomes a kaleidoscope of ancient and modern images and impressions, from archaeological discoveries to the typical felliniesque denizens of the eternal city. Although confusing, it is also rather charming and probably captures the mood of the times. The highlight is the ecclesiastical fashion show for the nobility of Rome that starts with nuns in mini-skirts and priests on roller-skates. The "models" become progressively more grotesque and the scene ends with the appearance of the smiling face of the then Pope John Paul VI on a huge screen, and its emotional reception by the audience of cardinals and dowager duchesses. Roma is worth seeing for this amazing sequence alone, that lifts it from the realm of documentary.
Rating:
Summary: A dreamy Fellini journey
Review: Fellini's Roma is a delight for the senses. You do have to throw out your ideas of a conventional narrative, as the vignettes seems to go in a completely random order. Some ideas come back (the bordello, the outdoor restaurants, the apartment living), but they do change every time. Like a dream, or a David Lynch film (it looks like both Lynch and David Byrne watched this film about a million times before Lynch did Lost Highway or Byrne did True Stories), there is a hazy surrealism to the film. The colors and stories are interesting and exciting and the transformations that take place within them (the ride around Rome "like the ring around Saturn" turns from interesting (having never been there) to boring (you keep moving and moving and moving) to tragic, all in a few minutes) are all fascinating. Favorite vignettes include the subway ride to frescos and the old woman and cronies to the fashion show (yes, another thing Byrne stole, as he did the talent show). Is this the "real" Rome? Not a chance, but it does keep you occupied during the two hours. Gore Vidal makes a "end of the world" cameo, which is a strange touch, but fits in with the film. This is definitely a film which needs to be seen more than once, and does fit in with other Fellini films, everything from Satyricon (the same loopy lack of narrative structure) to City of Women (everything from the fabulous bordello scenes to the boxing match). This is not the best Fellini (the two aforementioned films and 8 1/2 (release it on dvd dammit) and And the Ship Sailed On), but it is an interesting journey. Hippies and the colleseum are well worth the time. Four stars out of a possible five from me.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant portrail of a City
Review: Fellini's Roma is a wonderfull portrail of the director's native city . The movie deals with the city of Rome and focuses more on its delights rather than on character struggles . It is a tribute to the overwhelming city and this movie is a delight for viewers who like to grasp a feel of life in foreign countries.
Rating:
Summary: Rome out of a dream
Review: First, the worst. The sound is HORRIBLE. Not because of any master-to-DVD transfer problems but because all the sound was post-synchronized in the original production. This means that the dialog seldom lines up with the actor(s) and it always has an ambience that has nothing to do with the scene. That was a very common characteristic of Italian movies at that time. As annoying as the sound is, so are the visuals fascinating. Very few directors have the imagination that Fellini had and there are many scenes which convey his trademark sense of absurdity and surrealism. And probably no other director ever combined satire with a love of his subjects so powerfully. If you buy this DVD because you remembered the movie fondly from 25 or 30 years ago, be warned that it often comes across as very dated. But the beauty of "Roma" is that you can jump around without disturbing any continuity because it's really a collection of (long) vignettes. And most likely some of them will be better remembered than others. If you love Fellini's work, none of what you see will surprise you. If you're not familiar with it, this is as exemplary of Fellini's work as you can get and you'll soon realize that no one makes movies like this anymore.
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