Fellini - Satyricon (1970)

Good

The best way to understand director Federico Fellini's audacious 1968 film Satyricon (also known as Fellini Satyricon, because 1967 saw the release of Satyricon by fellow Italian filmmaker Gian Luigi Polidoro) is within the context of its year of release. That pivotal year saw the release of such indelible film classics as The Graduate, Planet of the Apes, Night Of The Living Dead, and 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Satyricon is very much in league with all of those films. It is even more sexually daring than The Graduate (especially homosexually), as politically subversive as Planet Of The Apes, as relentless as Night Of The Living Dead, and as far out as 2001: A Space Odyssey. I would also add that it is as symbolic as that landmark of television from the U.K., The Prisoner. But, is it a great film? I'd say no, although it is a very intriguing film, and not nearly as bad a film as its worst critics claim. That said, it is not the cinematic masterpiece its boosters claim, even if it had undoubted influence on such later films as Bob Guccione's sadomasochistic Caligula.
It has an odd, but strong, pull though. Despite its lack of narrative, or very thin narrative, there is doubtless a pull that its images weaves, or a spell, and in this way it resembles a film by Michelangelo Antonioni- say Blowup or The Passenger, even if it achieves that resemblance by going to the other end of the austerity meter. It is very close to being that ideal of the cinema auteur- pure cinema. But that still does not make up for its manifest deficiencies in narrative nor character development. The films defenders pawn off this fact by claiming that Fellini and his co-writers, Bernardino Zapponi and Brunello Fellini, were merely echoing the structure of the First Century picaresque tale written by the ancient Roman, Gaius Petronius Arbiter, about life under the Caesars during Nero's reign. While it is true that The Satyricon by Petronius is picaresque- largely due to the fragmentary nature of the surviving episodes, it is a bit more than what the film is, at least in terms of traditional literary styling. But Fellini's film's sumptuous visual extravaganza- among the most memorable in the history of film, more than compensates for the narrative lapses, and more closely resembles High Modernist poetry. In fact, the closest parallel to this film would be Ezra Pound's ode to London, England, Hugh Selwyn Mauberley.... Satyricon is a film that is nightmarish, but more so for its disjunctive plot than for its images, although many of them are truly disturbing and harrowing. It is not an easy work, but that fact alone makes it neither terrible nor grand. It is the depth of Fellini's occasional Surrealism (that often overused and misdefined term) and the power of his satire, which save this film from being an epic failure, or a camp disaster along the lines of Elizabeth Taylor's similar vehicle, Cleopatra, or a pretentious work of bilge along the lines of a Jean Cocteau film. In fact, Satyricon is everything that a hack like Cocteau could never do, but which a master of film like Fellini could do, even when not at the top of his game. It is not his best film, nor even a great film, but it is a singular and personal triumph, and one of the most indelible films in the history of the medium; one whose power and imagery will nag at you long after you wish it would evaporate, and one which, inexplicably, has had virtually no influence in its art form. Not a single great filmmaker of the last four decades has picked up the mantle that Fellini tossed down.
In a sense, if one were to imagine the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey, after Dave Bowman enters the black monolith around Jupiter, and add a bit of satire and sexuality to it, then extend that fifteen or so minutes by two more hours, one would have Satyricon. Thus, if one was lost by the ending of the great Kubrick film, forget about trying to `get' this film, for its pure cinema, visual poesy, and Keatsian Negative Capability are well beyond the realm of a film viewer not weaned from the Lowest Common Denominator tripe of a Steven Spielberg nor George Lucas, nor the faux Joycean logorrhea of many wannabe `edgy' independent filmmakers of recent vintage. Federico Fellini was that great rarity in art- a great rarity, even when his rarity trumped his greatness.
September 17, 2008

Oh so good!

It's amazing to think that the original story behind this movie was created at about the same time as the beginnings of Christianity. I watch this video once each year on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day. It's a great antidote to the insanity of the Christmas season as "celebrated" in the U.S. of A. Highly recommended! January 12, 2008

Humanity & Fantasy

SATYRICON may well be the crown jewel of the late 1950-1960's European/Asian Art Film genre--by one of the master directors of the time.

As mentioned in the press blurb, the film play is loosely (very loosely) based on The Satyricon by Petronious, and the storyline follows the sexual exploits of Encolpio who searches for his fickle lover, played out within the framework of a hyper-sexualized & surrealistic vision of Pagan Rome (and other locales that could be anywhere between the Italian countryside to Jupiter.)

This is Fellini's most opulent & lavish production (eclipsed only by his other masterpiece CASANOVA--a film critics found just a little too lavish & opulent, and a movie that seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth.)

SATYRICON (more or less translates as "Sex Play") is a sumptuous feast for the eyes & ears, emphasized by an non-intrusive & often very funny script. For example, in one scene a man entertains dinner guests with this story: Once upon a time a beautiful young widow had to bury her husband. Following the tradition of the time, she vowed to pine away next to the body she followed to the cemetery. Just over the hill a handsome young soldier was charged with the task of guarding the body of a hanged thief. The soldier hears the widow's crying & goes to investigate. With very little cajoling the widow & soldier make love next to the corpse. Meanwhile, the relatives of the hanged man steal his body. When the soldier finds out, he threatens to kill himself because he knows that he'll be held responsible. But the widow dissuades him, suggesting he replace the stolen body with that of the husband. She says, "Better to hang a dead husband then lose a living lover."

The storyteller's audience laughs--and the theatre audience laughed along with them. This exemplifies the intent of the director in this film--to show the continuity of human nature, with all its aspirations & foibles.

Another scene I liked involved a rich man who employed a fulltime soothsayer to interpret the meaning of his belches.

And this one: The intrepid hero becomes impotent, but unluckily for him, he is selected to play the role of Lover in a city fertility rite. The rather ample High Priestess displays herself on the altar & entices him to lay on top of her. Unfortunately that's all he does. In a huff she tosses him off the altar, picks up her clothes & goes stomping off yelling "You shriveled up little worm, you'll bring bad luck on all of us!"

There are poignant scenes between the humor.

In one such scene a Patrician (land owner) and his wife learn that Caesar (no particular Caesar is really identified) has been assassinated. As they were allies of his, they know that they are marked for death. They send their children away to safety (Fellini's daughter plays one of them.) Then in a highly stylized, emotive, graceful scene, they commit suicide. No melodrama here, but dignity.

The sexual and other visual images of the film are very Dali--and if you love Dali, you'll love the movie. If you're uncomfortable about sex, you won't like this picture. Every form of sex & fetish runs throughout SATYRICON. Nudity is rampant! However, here too Fellini shows his humanity. No matter how bizarre the situation (or position) not one character is portrayed as degrading or demeaning. SATYRICON is a Celebration of Life, a fusion art form the almost quietly invokes an age old expression of joy.

It is as if we were being ever so gently reminded that our life is all we have, and unfortunately, it just can't last forever.

As a matter of fact, it has a tendency to end all too soon.

This was certainly the Pagan outlook.

La Strada - Criterion Collection
La Strada - Criterion Collection
Fellini's Roma
Juliet Of The Spirits - Criterion Collection December 9, 2007

Exploring reality through drug-induced fantasy

As much as I enjoy Roman epics like Kubrick's Spartacus - Criterion Collection, it is undeniable that these tend to either whitewash the more bizarre aspects of Roman life or turn said aspects into a freak show (Caligula (Three-Disc Imperial Edition), Gladiator (Widescreen Edition)). What sets Fellini's film apart is that he does not try to make any connections to our present (except that he and his version of the Romans apparently shared a penchant for hallucinogenic drugs). His vision of the Roman world is confusing like some sort of endless carnival, alien to us in a way a Far-Eastern culture might be. In many ways it seems a bit overdone, until you realize that e.g. Roman food was indeed quite strange (read Apicius). And yes, the Roman women put lead makeup on their faces. I bet that was healthy!

But the real star of the film is the production design and the cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno. Not to mention the delicious overacting and the deliberately out-of-sync dialogue (there is a book about the making of the film in which Fellini explains his vision). Many movies have stolen a few ideas here, for example Lychias's ship somehow seems to have influenced Waterworld and other post-apocalyptic movies. I guess it is no coincidence that Fellini called this his "science-fiction film of the past". Also, Pasolini's "Trilogy of Life" with its episodic structure and carefree sexuality is deeply indebted to this film.

The work on which the movie is based, the The Satyricon (Oxford World's Classics) by Petronius Arbiter, might perhaps be called the birth of the anti-hero novel, where three misfits -- students who dabble a bit in murder, theft, and prostitution on the side -- stumble from one ribald adventure into the next and where the reader can never decide if he should laugh with the "heroes" or at them. So, does Petronius intend to satirize the "haves" (like Trimalchio) or the "have-nots" (like Eumolpius) -- or simply everybody? And what does Fellini want to say with this film? Maybe just to sit back and enjoy the visual feast he offers. November 5, 2007

Fellini OutFellini's Fellini

Fellini was not a man of half-measures. He was his own greatest challenger. With great challenges comes the risk for great failure. Satyricon is a disjointed mess, albeit a very pretty disjointed mess. Most of Fellini's movies don't have much in the way of plots so that doesn't bother me. What makes Satyricon unsuccessful is the lack of insight and challenging questions that make most of Fellini's other works so fascinating and challenging for the viewer. Here, it seems as if Fellini makes his point early then spends the rest of the movie beating around the bush. He tries so hard to offend it eventually seems silly and contrived and, ultimately, boring.
October 3, 2007

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