Roma

Roma unfolds as a potpourri of Rome seen through the eyes of its most famous son, but the film refuses a single story or driving arc. Instead, it stitches together luminous street scenes, theatrical tableaux, and intimate vignettes that drift from sunlit fountains to shadowy churches, from bustling markets to silent alleys. A young actor plays Fellini and appears in several scenes, while other figures, including an aristocratic hostess, a young prostitute, a cardinal, and a subterranean guide, float through the day as if the city itself were a stage. The result feels like a memory collage, where color, sound, and mood carry meaning more than dialogue or plot twists.

Directed by Federico Fellini with Bernardino Zapponi, Roma was released in 1972 as a deliberately non-narrative love letter to the city. The film blends staged moments with documentary-like glimpses and dreamlike imagery, shot on location around Rome using a mix of color and texture that emphasizes mood over plot.

Roma helped reshape how films treat a city, making Rome itself a character rather than scenery. Its episodic structure, dreamlike transitions, and memorable cameos, such as a young Peter Gonzales Falcon playing Fellini aged 18 and Cardinal Ottaviani, left a lasting imprint on art house cinema and on the way audiences think about urban memory.

Critics at release offered mixed praise for Fellini's freeform vision and its elusive structure. The work probes memory, spectacle, religion, and the tension between sacred ritual and everyday life, portraying Rome as a carnival where memory, desire, and decay mingle. Some reviewers admired its audacity while others found the lack of a traditional narrative off-putting.

Box office: numbers for Roma are not widely documented, as the film found a home mainly in art house circuits and festival runs rather than a wide commercial release. Over time it gained a following among cinephiles and scholars who discuss its radical approach to city cinema. Its enduring status as a cult favorite confirms its lasting influence on city cinema.