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Movies Influenced by Satyricon


I would like to compile a list of movies that reflect a Satyricon influence, overt or otherwise. What other films have made you think that the director must have watched Satyricon?

For me, the most obvious answer is CALIGULA. The scenes in Tiberius' palace, for example, play in large part like a more sexually explict take on (one might say rip-off of) Fellini's approach, complete with grotesque figures, a feeling of dreamlike dislocation, and an overwhelming range of simultaneous activities and emotions. The scene where Caligula observes three Senators covered in mud (?) plotting to kill the Emporer (?) had the same quality, where you feel like you've dreamed the scene rather than watched it (if you have any idea what I mean). Of course, this movie in turn spawned a sub-genre of sleazy Roman exploitation films, but I doubt any of these reflect that same influence.

Other examples? (They don't have to be respectable.)

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There's so many, but here's a hundred I can think of

1.) The Holy Mountain (1973) Alejandro Jodorowsky (One of the strangest and most bizarre films ever made)
2.) El Topo (1971) Alejandro Jodorowsky (A bizarre psychedelic western) (Jodorowsky's films were highly influenced by Fellini)
3.) Santa Sangre (1989) Alejandro Jodorowsky (Bizarre and colorful circus atmosphere)
4.) Titus (1999) Julie Taymor
5.) The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover (1989) Peter Greenaway (All of Peter Greenaway's films have a heavy Fellini influence)
6.) L'Urlo (1970) Tinto Brass (Early surrealist film from the director of Caligula)
7.) Macunaima (1969) (Bizarre Brazillian slapstick surrealist comedy)
8.) Salomè (1972) Carmelo Bene
9.) Il Fiore delle mille e una notte (aka. Arabian Nights) (1974) (director PIer Paolo Pasolini was friends with Fellini)
10.) Wild at Heart (1990) David Lynch (Fellini's influence is obvious in all of Lynch's work)
11.) Muholland Drive (2001)
12.) The Devils (1971) Ken Russell (Almost all of Ken Russell's films seem to have a Fellini influence)
13.) The Mansion of Madness (1973)
14.) Birds, Orphans and Fools (1969) Juraj Jakubisko (Slovak director who was a close friend to Fellini)
15.) Perinbaba (1985) Juraj Jakubisko (Bizarre Slovak Fairy Tale starring Fellini's wife Giulietta Masina)
16.) Suspiria (1977) Dario Argento
17.) The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) Luis Bunuel
18.) The Hourglass Sanitorium (1973)
19.) Ching Se (aka. Green Snake) (1993) Tsui Hark
20.) Erindira (1983)
21.) Bye Bye Brazil (1979) Carlos Diegues
22.) Black Moon (1975) Louis Malle
23.) Izo (2004) Takashi Miiki
24.) Sweet Movie (1974) Dusan Makavejev
35.) Third Part of the Night (1971) Andrzej Zulawski
36.) Pistol Opera (2001) Seijun Suzuki
37.) Careful (1992) Guy Maddin
38.) The Saddest Music in the World (2003)
40.) Diabel (1972) Andrzej Zulawski
41.) The Fruit of Paradise (1969) Vera Chytilova
42.) Venus in Furs (1969) Jesus Franco
43.) Valerie and her Week of Wonders (1970) Jaromil Jires
44.) Poison (1991) Todd Haynes
45.) Forbidden Zone (1980)
46.) What? (1972) Roman Polanski
46.) Dreams (1990) Akira Kurosawa
47.) Liquid Sky (1982)
48.) Dr. Caligari (1989) (Not to be confused with the expressionist classic)
49.) Arizona Dream (1993) Emir Kusterica
50.) Underground (1995) Emir Kusterica (Surreal, slapstick tragic comedy about Yugoslavia)
51.) Alice (1988) Jan Svankmajer (Creepy Czech Alice in Wonderland with stop motion creatures)
52.) Fantastic Planet (1973)
53.) Kytice (aka. Wildflowers) (2000)
54.) Viva la Muerte (1971) Fernando Arrabal
55.) Greaser's Palace (1972) Robert Downey Sr.
56.) Faust (1994) Jan Svankmajer
57.) Conspritors of Pleasure (1996) Jan Svakmajer
58.) Lunacy (2005) Jan Svankmajer
59.) A Zed and Two Noughts (1985) Peter Greenaway
60.) Drowning by Numbers (1988) Peter Greenaway
61.) Prospero's Books (1991) Peter Greenaway
62.) The Baby of Macon (1993) Peter Greenaway
63.) Sebastiane (1976) Derek Jarman
64.) Jubilee (1977) Derek Jarman
65.) The Garden (1990) Derek Jarman
66.) Kamikaze 89 (1982)
67.) Querelle (1982) Fassbinder (Fassbinder's films seemed to have a huge Fellini influence)
68.) Lisztomania (1975) Ken Russell
69.) Tommy (1975) Ken Russell
70.) Altered States (1980) Ken Russell
71.) The Happiness of the Katikuris (2001) Takashi Miike
72.) Weekend (1967) Godard (Pre-dated Satyricon, but has similarities)
73.) Even Dwarves Started Small (1970) Werner Herzog
74.) Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) Werner Herzog
75.) The Bed Sitting Room (1969) Richard Lester
76.) A Clockwork Orange (1971) Stanley Kubrick
77.) The Shining (1980) Stanley Kubrick
78.) Eyes Wide Shut (1999) Stanley Kubrick
79.) Funeral Parade of Roses (1969)
80.) Throw Away your Books and Rally in the Streets (1971) Shuji Terayama
81.) Pastoral: to die in the country (1974) Shuji Terayama
82.) Goto Island of Love (1968) Walerian Borowczyk
83.) The Ninth Configuration (1980)
84.) The Favor, the Watch and the Very Big Fish (1991)
85.) Vera (2003) Francisco Athié
86.) Gaja Gamini (2000)
87.) The Fourth Man (1983) Paul Verhoeven
88.) I Will Walk like a Crazy Horse (1973) Fernando Arrabal
89.) Le Nain rouge (1998)
90.) Angel De Fuego (1992)
91.) Zardoz (1974)
92.) Firecracker (2004)
93.) The Cremaster Cycle (There's six different movies in the series) Matthew Barney
94.) Goodbye 20th Century (1998) (Bizarre Fellini like Macedonian film)
95.) The Decameron (1971) Pasolini
96.) The Tree of Guernica (1975) Fernando Arrabal
97.) Color of Pomegranates (1968) Sergei Parajanov
98.) Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? (1969)
99.) What is it? (2005)
100.) Natural Born Killers (1994)

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#12. The Devils definitely. ESPECIALLY the scene that was omitted (and available on the Director's Cut DVD) that takes place in the church where the rabid nuns defile the statue of Christ on the Cross and the effeminate priest is masturbating in the rafters while watching the bachanalia.

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And through the magic of time (and a Fellini documentary playing tonight to set me on this search) I get to reply to your post and thank you.
I'm certainly no academic student of film, but I am a huge fan. My Netflix wish list is maxed out at 500 -none of which anyone I know is interested in seeing.
So among my friends, my tastes are far to the artsy (although I enjoy it all).
But your list... apparently from the top of your head!
Apart from the Kubrick films, I only recognize, like, four films!

Its nice to know how much more is out there waiting to be enjoyed!
Thanks.
I've yet to see a Fellini film, so I look forward to his influence yet to come.

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What a GREAT list NateManD!!! It can be debated if all these were influenced by Satyricon...take it for what you will...but this is a GREAT list none the less!! Seeing the films on this list will make you smarter about film, no doubt about that!

Its been a really long time since I have seen Satyricon. In fact, I barely remember it. But seeing your list has perked my interest in re-visiting it, as well as some of the other comments here!

Anyway, while my memory is distant of Fellini's work, I have seen a good 2/3 of that list...so here is my go of some with similar imagery...

Taxidermia (2006) very strange Hungarian film
Delicatessian
City of Lost Children
Amelie
A.I. (don't jump to conclusions...think about the decadent robot city and art design!)
Anything by Coffin Joe (Brazillian Horror director with an eye for the surreal)
Montey Python's Meaning of Life
Brazil (and a lot of Gilliam's work)
Cafe Flesh (from the same director as the Dr. Caligari remake)

That's it off the top of my head. At least the really DIRECT ones I could think of. Maybe Tron and dark Crystal too...but that might be pushing it.

Anyway, thanks again for your fantastic list NateManD, truly food for thought!

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Yes, an amazing list

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Give me a break. Satyricon is degraded, low-rent Fellini... perhaps the worst movie he ever made. It influenced didley squat.

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Fantastic list! I guess this where the term "Felliniesque" comes from?

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I'm unsure on how many of these films genuinely were influenced by Fellini, however thank you very much for posting this list. There's some on there I don't know so I'll seek them out based on the other ones I've seen.

(I'm aware this post is from 9 years ago, but thank you all the same)

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Great list

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I have to disagree about Jodorowsky being influenced by 'Satyricon' as he had already made Fando y Lis by '68, which showcased many of the same surreal and phantasmagoric elements to be found in his later, larger-budget films.

This is from the Fando y Lis trivia page: "Shortly after Federico Fellini's _Satyricon (1969)_ was released to appreciative audiences in the USA, an English dubbed version was hurriedly released that was re-edited to appear more "Felliniesque" and was 13 minutes shorter than the original edit. It was a critical and financial flop."

It seems the studios wanted to manufacture the appearance of one filmmaker's influence on the other to drum up business.

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Martin Scorsese mentions on the DVD for Gangs of New York that Satyricon was an influence on his movie.

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I don't see that influence at all. Did he mention specific scenes? Perhaps certain camera movements or placements? I really, for the life of me, cannot see a single, solitary comparison between Gangs and Satyricon.

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I have trouble seeing it too. The part with the band in the bar singing that "New York Girls" song while looking at the camera is kind of Felliniesque I guess. I'll have to go back and watch with the commentary on again.

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The feeling of anchorless anarchy.
Both films are about similar societies.

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It doesn't matter if you disagree. From the Jodorowsky wiki

"He has cited the filmmaker Federico Fellini as his primary cinematic influence."

How can you not think this influenced Holy Mountain?

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Most of all:
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

Then
La Guerre du feu (1981)

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Mike Hodge's FLash Gordon is very blatantly a giant homage to Satyricon. It's all there from the sexuality and fantastical ancient kingdom to the superimposed red skies and camera angles. Hodges even borrowed Satyricon's art director, Danilo Donato to do the sets!

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I always thought David Lynch's Dune was one of the few movies that has the same kind of "other worldly" feel as Satyricon.
They make a fantastic double feature.

The car crash is a fertilizing rather than a destructive event.

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These: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000186/#director

Do not write here

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The "Bartertown" sequence in Mad Max 3.

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BlazeYaDeadHomie mentioned Mad Max 3. I can think of another Mel Gibson movie that appeared to take a Satyricon influence: Apocalypto, which is the only good film to be directed by crazy ol' Mel. Coincidence? Or the inevitable result of pinching from a master?

Anyway while the first and final acts of Apocalypto have little or nothing in common with the style of Fellini, the sequence in the middle where the hero and his fellow slaves are dragged into the great Mayan city struck me as pure Satyricon. In general, I'm thinking of the extended tracking shots depicting the strange, exotic, foreign, ancient world and culture. There are also depictions of debauched indulgence, midgets and Felliniesque freaks waddling around humorously, horrible violence as public entertainment, semi-naked egotistical Emperor-types grandstanding etc.

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I am not sure if anyone has mentioned, "The Fall" by Tarsem Singh is surely influenced by Felini!

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While watching this movie, I was reminded of Peter Greenaway. Specifically, Prospero's Books. Seems like I'm not the only one who noticed.

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The sequence before the first battle in Gangs of New York (2002) and in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever (1991) the scene where the Wesley Snipes character goes through a New York block filled with crackheads and crack dealers... both are influenced by the scene in Satyricon when Encolpius, the hero, and his boy lover Giton walk along a street in the prostitution area of Rome's Suburra.

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Take out pretty much any Bunuel film in this list because he was not influenced by Fellini. In fact he was making movies about the bourgeoisie and all kinds of decadence long before Fellini made his first film and continued doing so until he died. I'd think it would be more that Fellini was influenced by Bunuel's surrealism. But it hardly matters as both were auteurs and each created masterful pieces of cinema.

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