MovieChat Forums > Fellini - Satyricon (1970) Discussion > glamour at it's finest

glamour at it's finest

posted 20 years ago by veronica_vega
14 replies | jump to latest

i am inlove with this film. and i read a couple of the other posts about people not understanding it, saying it was wierd... but you people do not understand what art of film is. this is fellini's masterpiece. it is like a moving painting.

like the murals at the end only prove my point that it is art. the most beautiful ending in a movie, ever. the women! they don't make them like that anymore.

and hiram keller (ascltus) was gorgeous. everything about it. even the not so good looking people, like calpurnia. but they are unique and you don't see casting like that anymore. he chose these people because they had a quality of uniqueness that no director can top today, because many don't understand. and many have casting agents to do that for them.

Satyricon is the epitome of what art in film is.

oh, and i have a question. who played that gorgeous empress on licha's ship? you know, the pale one with the high, curly hair and gold eye makeup?

[–] burn on 20 years ago

Yes. Here here. Top hole, spot on, smashing, simply ripping and fan-dabby-dosey!

I love this film too. It's stupifying. It's a film with no plot and no characterisation. Nothing about the film is believable. Yet it's my favourite film. It's not pretentious, as many idiots say, because it doesn't "pretend" to anything. It's not seriously trying to suggest that Ancient Rome looked or sounded anything like that. It has no aspirations to poetry, to allegory, to politics or any such Pasolini-esque nonsense. It's quite simply two hours of Fellini's unfettered imagination laid bare on film. And because Fellini was a genius, its incredibly entertaining!

So Veronica, maybe we could have a drink sometime? I love art cinema, and I look a bit like Ascltus too! Seriously. Dark curly hair etc. A bit less goatish though...

[–] veronica_vega 20 years ago

how about a bottle of jack daniels, a nice hardwood floor, and a fellini marathon.

; )

[–] foolfm 20 years ago

wouldnt you get a num bum

Eritis sicut deus, scientes bonum et malum

[–] nihilistdude2000 20 years ago

I like Fellini but there is one thing that bugs me about this film, and a few of his others, like 8 1/2 and La Dolce Vita - his obsession with beauty. I'm an aesthete, I appreciate it, but I don't like to see it elevated to God-like status the way he does in some of his films - it takes more than a pretty cast to make a film, and shows/movies that rely simply on the beauty of their stars irk me. It reminds me really of those dumb teenage melodramas. Simply put, its the mark of immaturity. But Fellini did not do this in all his films so he is forgiven - but I still think he contributed to its ascenscion - i.e., sex appeal, etc.

"Say 'what' again mutha f@cka'!"

[–] burn on 20 years ago

Aaaaaw yeah. True, old Fellini filled Fellini Satyricon full of beautiful people (the aliteration there was a bit of an accidental aliteration moment) but at the same time he liked to put some desperately ugly people in it, perhaps to make it dead even. The prostitutes in the brothel sequence are minging. There's one scene with a hugely fat fat fatty woman who jiggles her jell-o at the camera. That moment made me impotent for about six months. (I hope the actress who played Ms Fat doesn't read this.) There's horribly skinny and alarmingly naked old men, there's a contorted midget who look agonised when he walks, there's a bizarre freak-child, there's wh*res, skunk p*ssies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick, venal.

Aaaaaw yeah. The Felliniesque carnival sideshow freakshow is in full blossomage in Fellini Satyricon. I'm beginning to think the uglies outweigh the sexies.

Human/White Cop: The old dine and dash routine, huh? My daddy owned a restaurant, and it was cheap punks like you who stopped it from going regional. That's why I became a cop!

Robotic/Black Cop: And now it's payback time, aaaaaw yeah.

Dr Zoidberg: Please don't hit me, I'm brittle!

[–] TonyDood 20 years ago

a bizarre freak-child, wh*res, skunk p*ssies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick, venal.

Hooray! What a great endorsement! My kinda movie!

The first time I saw this I thought everyone in it was scary looking, even the "beautiful" ones, who were--let's face it--all wearing tons of make-up. I had to have it pointed out to me by a friend how Fellini managed to make ugly beautiful and vice versa, mix and contrast "beauty" and "ugly" so well to the point where it blurs which, to me, is art. Aside from Jodorowski and Greenaway I don't know of many directors who can get away with that contrast so effectively. But it sure is fascinating to watch.

I can shuffle cut and deal but I can't draw a hand

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] [email protected] 20 years ago

Could not agree more....
Hiram Keller is exquisite beyond belief. Simply *divine* in terms of physical beauty!!!!!

He was perfect for Satyricon!
Almost as if he were made for the role.

Corvidae

Inspire whimsey in everyone you meet

[–] aliasme 19 years ago

What was Fellini on when he made this trash?

[–] burn on 19 years ago

He was high on life, Aliasme. He was high on life. And LSD.

I showed this movie to my girlfriend last night. I don't think she liked it very much, but she knew it's my favourite film so she kept her mouth shut about it.

Oh yeah. Aliasme, why do you think this film's trash? How can you say that about something so lovingly crafted, so original, and so beautiful?

[–] tmo1909 19 years ago

Thank you so much for your post. I couldn't agree more. This was the most disgusting piece of trash I have ever witnessed. Beautifully shot, but trash nonetheless. EEEEEEWWWWWWWWW is pretty much how I felt about it...

[–] tmo1909 19 years ago

I believe it was Capucine...

[–] [email protected] 19 years ago

I have discovered a male model that reminds me so much of the delicious
Hiram Keller; check out this link for Javier:

<http://images.google.ca/images?q=tbn:IVUEzS4nqAkJ:models.com/model_culture/50topmalemodels/images/javier.jpg>;

Corvidae

Inspire whimsey in everyone you meet

[–] dmongelli4 19 years ago

this movie doesn't mean anything. But its still great. it just drags the audience around a strange and hallucinatory roman world, which is actually fellini's internal world, with all his fantasies and obsessions. we never understand completly whats going on. The petronio story is quite an excuse for the director to show us these fantasies. I don't think there will ever be any other film like this, also because its difficult to find a crazy producer that would invest in a film with no plot, and just give complete freedom to a crazy director to make a wonderful film that probably only few people will appreciate.