Customer Reviews

City of Women ( La Cité des femmes ) ( La Città delle donne ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2.4 Import - Australia ]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although most Fellini fans will point to his "8 1/2" as their favorite of his films, I think that "City Of Women" is just a little bit better. They are both 5s though so I may be splitting hairs! Marcello Mastrioanni plays Fellini's alter ego in both films. In "8 1/2" we see him as a film director surrounded by his usual coterie of Picasso-like faces. He is also contending with his problems as a womanizer as they continue to come in and go out of his life. "City Of Women" goes much further though. It shows that the primary fascination Fellini has with women is bonding to their sex. He clearly is much more attracted to the nature of woman than the nature of man. He revels in their intuitive and instinctual side and the fecund, earth mother basis. Certainly the large part of him that exists as an artist is wholly situated in the sphere inhabited by the female sex. "City of Women" is a surreal, dream-like evocation of this world and Fellini's draw to it. He is, of course, shut out from it though because he is of the male sex and the closest he was ever enfolded within it was when he was a child and mothered there. This was not the huge hit in the USA that "8 1/2" was which is a shame but now you have the chance to make up for its too brief theatrical release in the USA shortly after it was released in 1980. This film was shot in glorious, surreal colors.

City of Women is typical late Fellini fare, full of surrealism, elaborate sets, beautiful colors, gorgeous women and the bare bones of plot and linear structure. We have Marcello Mastroianni (of course) as lothario Snaporaz. After unsuccessfully seducing a woman on a train, he follows her to a hotel in the middle of a forest where a feminist convention is taking place. From that point on, Snaporaz finds himself in one compromising adventure after another. He is tormented by women on roller skates, accosted by a nymphomaniac, chased down by drugged up teenagers and eventually seeks refuge in the castle-like fortress of Dr. Uberkock who is having a party in celebration of his 10,000th sexual conquest.

The women appear lovely and harmless at first until little things set them off with Snaporaz always the target of their aggression. Fellini even goes so far as having many of the women in different scenes growl and grunt in an animalistic manner whether it's sexual or aggressive.

My favorite scene involves the junkie nymphet delinquents. Its plays out like an elaborate 80s music video or a scene from an Argento horror flick. I can't get enough of that great Italian disco track that they play during their joyride.

Fellini's films are pure eye candy, absolute viewing experiences with all sense of cohesion thrown to the wind. City Of Women is no exception. Although it does not always reflect women in a positive light, City of Women truly is a wonderful film and a testament to an absolutely brilliant filmmaker. Fully immerse yourself in this opulent, indulgent film extravaganza and prepare to be mesmerized.

First, I have to say that I am a fan of late-period Fellini. If you prefer his earlier work (pre-Juliet of the Spirits), you may not like his later, more indulgent work.

City of Women is about women, specifically feminists. Women were always one of Fellini's favorite topics, and this film is his attempt to understand the various (often contradictory) aspects of the feminist movement (or movements). As such it's rambling, with no real center or plot to speak of. Marcello Mastroianni (Fellini's favorite alter-ego) plays womanizer Snaporaz, who, upon following a woman off of a train, winds up in the midst of a kind of feminist convention. After roller-skating down some stairs and bumming a ride with a nymphomaniac and some junkies young enough to be his granddaughters, he winds up in a kind of temple to womanizing. It's a strange film.

This film doesn't approach the experimental or lyrical depths of its successor, And The Ship Sails On, but in my opinion it's superior to its predecessor, Orchestra Rehearsal.

The DVD has a decent transfer and a few extras: a brief interview with Fellini (always a treat) and a featurette containing interviews with some Fellini associates and scholars. A decent DVD of a decent film.

I love this film. I think it's as good as the great Fellini films (8 1/2, La Dolce Vita). There are moments of incredible magic throughout, and it's vividly cinematic. Some of Fellini's greatest sequences (like the one when Snaporaz goes down the slide into an "amusement" park) are pure Fellini magic. The cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno is magnificent. It is one of Fellini's most inventive and surreal pictures (which, for him, is really saying something). The 138 minute running time just flies by. Many critics said that Fellini never made a good film after Amarcord, but they are so wrong. Almost every latter day Fellini film (even The Voices of the Moon, which never got a proper release in this country) has some elements in it that could only be brought out by the great Maestro. This film (along with And the Ship Sails On and Intrevista) are amongst Fellini's forgotten films, which is a shame, since they are well worth watching. See this one. It's amazing filmmaking...

City of Women is a wonderful surreal film. The film itself plays very much like a dream. Each scene falls into the next with no logical purpose, but, like a dream, it does seem to make sense. There is a confusion about the role of feminism and the militant women in them, but it really isn't enough to stop the enjoyment. The visuals are fabulous, as you would expect in a Fellini film, and the music soundtrack seems to be rifs on the opening theme of the song "Mona Lisa."

The DVD is impressive as well. The quality of this late 70s film is as good as can be expected, but to see it in widescreen is amazing. The documentaries that accompany the movie are fascinating, if very humorous. In the 20 minute documentary, two film historians and one director (Paul Mazursky) cannot agree on the most important moment in the film, and it is different from the Fellini interview printed in the inner flier. It is a great package all together

Marcello, our mild-mannered protagonist of few words and thick glasses, follows a femme-fatale off a train into the wilderness, only to find himself in what he describes, baffled, as a "feminist convention." Angry Italian women chant, do yoga, put on plays, and screech about male oppression and abolishing fellatio. Marcello wanders through the strange world, completely overwhelmed by high-pitched laughter and the garish stereotypes unfolding around every corner.

The tale takes on a fairytale quality as Marcello meets a lecherous old woman who claims she's taking him back to his train, but really intends to (and partially succeeds in) molesting him. Also in fairytale fashion, he finally finds refuge in a mysterious castle owned by the male stereotype from the opposite end of the gender spectrum: a gun toting, hunting-dog-owning, bath-robed, bearded man who does nothing but boast about his sexual exploits. Here Marcello attends a party which seemingly intends to contrast as much as possible with the "feminist convention."

Then suddenly his girlfriend Elena appears at this party and bitterly screams accusations at him, only to just as suddenly disappear and be replaced by a pair of giggling bikini-clad girls. Then the story looses all semblance of structured plot as Marcello careens through a burlesque-style reenactment of all the childhood memories that shaped his sexual psyche. Then the pace is slowed as he is forced to face angry hordes of women again, who relentlessly and bitterly ask him questions he cannot answer. As the viewer and Marcello wonder bleakly how he will ever get out of this mess or make sense of all this, conveniently Marcello wakes up on the train again. It was all a dream!

Like all of Fellini's works, this movie is cinematically beautiful, but unlike most of Fellini's works this picture lacks depth, and seems to be an expensive exercise in "Because I Can." If viewers are looking to introduce themselves to Fellini, I would recommend La Strada or La Dolce Vita instead.

Fellini fans out there: Don't be put off by negative reviews about this DVD... it's one of the best Fellini movies, and the
DVD anamorphic (16x9) video transfer is just fine! I've had to watch this movie on VHS tape before (and on the PAL standard to boot, which is as good as it gets for VHS tape!) and I can tell you that saying the new DVD transfer is no better -or even worse- than the VHS tape is just poppycock. Viewed with a 16x9 TV, the transfer, while not reference quality, is certainly good enough. I saw none of the artifacts that were mentioned in the other reviews.
So, Fellini fans, get the DVD and enjoy the adventures of Snaporaz!

"City of women" is another fantastic journey, a surrealist portrait of what the bizarre mind of Fellini is capable to make.

The initial sequence of the train entering into the tunnel is much more than a simple metaphor or explicated allusion, a genial lobby before this messy universe crowded of women makes its appearance, a demolishing and controversial film that simply is beyond any label you try to search.

Watch the genial sequence in the room surrounded by monitors of women of all kind. It's possible the jewel of the crown.

Another hallucinating fantasy of the great Fellini the freest of all the directors ever born.

I KNOW FELLINI'S WORK VERY WELL AND THIS MOVIE IS THE BEST DREAMLIKE M-A-S-T-E-R-P-I-E-C-E I'VE EVER SEEN IN ALL MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Snaporaz (Marcello Mastroianni), riding on a train, follows a beautiful woman from his compartment into the restroom. He convinces her to make love to him there, but as they begin, the train stops at a station and she says that it's her stop. She leaves, but Snaporaz is not going to let this nice piece get away so easily. He begins to follow her into the forest - and so Snaporaz begins his bizarre journey into Federico Fellini's "City of Women."

This is not a film with much dramatic structure. Rather, we follow Snaporaz on his strange journey from one surreal situation to another - some of it dreamlike and pleasant, others nightmarish and terrifying. In the forest he comes to a hotel where a feminist convention is being held, eludes a hoard of roller skaters, is nearly raped by a sex-starved middle aged woman, goes for a weird joy ride with a car full of lesbians, seeks refuge in the home of a super stud, is confronted by his estranged wife, is accosted by female police officers dressed like SS storm troopers, gets to dance like Fred Astaire with a pair of barely clad beauties, etc.

I thought that the film started a bit slowly, but once I got into it I was enthralled throughout by the bizarre imagery and the spectacle of it all. Mastroianni does a fine job as Snaporaz, displaying emotions ranging from child-like joy to terror. Much of this is a puzzle to him and he just doesn't know what to make of it. Some important supporting characters are his wife (Anna Prucnal) who tries to re-ignite Snaporaz but he just isn't interested; Ettore Manni as Dr. Katzone (aka Zuberkock), a modern day Don Giovanni with a whole chamber devoted to his thousands of conquests; Bernice Stegers as the woman on the train; and Donatella Damiani (a girl with some amazing bounce to her) in multiple roles as a dancer, roller skater, etc.

A film like this is all about symbolism, and the 20 minute featurette with director Paul Mazursky (Fellini's friend) and some film historians helps to shed some light on it. While there are some interesting anecdotes (the name 'Snaporaz' was an impromptu name Fellini gave to Mastroianni's unnamed character in "8 1/2"), most of the commentary deals with Fellini's views about women, the feminist movement in Italy and Fellini's becoming older himself. When someone called Fellini 'a dirty old man,' for instance, the director didn't object to being called 'dirty' but rather to being called 'old'!

The only disappointment with this release by New Yorker Video is the film transfer itself. It's presented widescreen, about 1.85:1, and enhanced for widescreen sets. The picture quality looks decent enough, but the colors are not very saturated and the image looks a bit dark at times. The edges looked a bit clipped during the title sequence, too, but nothing too severe. While not an optimal image, I wouldn't let it deter anyone from watching.

The DVD also includes a behind-the-scenes promotional short, profiles of Fellini and Mastroianni, a photo gallery and trailers for two other New Yorker releases. The folded insert includes a 4 page interview with Fellini regarding "City of Women" from 1980.

"City of Women" may not be a film for everyone, but if you're a fan of Fellini or unusual cinema, do give it a chance.