University of Virginia Library

CINEMA

Fellini's Messed-Up Mind, Opus 10 ½

By Paul Chaplin
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

"Stoned! Screwed-up! Out of it!
Wrecked!" Pick your favorite exclamation
from the above and chances
are you can apply it to Fellini's
"Satyricon," now playing at the
University. The first I saw the
film (Fellini's 10th and ½), I felt
like someone had hit me over the

head with an opiated mallet. For all
the superb razzle-dazzle techniques
in the film, Fellini has laid an egg.

The script is by Fellini and
Bernardino Zapponi, adapted from
Petronius' writings of Nero's depraved
court of first century Rome.
The problem with the screenplay is
its sprawling picaresque-epic nature.
There are places where the main
character is simply abandoned,
while Fellini takes a side trip to
explore another orgy or listen to a
story a character is telling. It's hard
to keep your mind on the main
story, whatever that is.

The cast is quite good, and is
unusually varied. In the lead role of
Encolplus is Martin Potter, an
Englishman, while Hiram Keller,
one of the original members of
"Hair," plays his friend Ascyltus.
Basically, Fellini lets Encolplus
wander around Rome and the Mediterranean,
occasionally running into
Ascyltus and the rest of the
cast.

Unusual Cameo

Capucine has an unusual cameo
role as Tryphaena, who is cursed
with fire in her body. My favorite
from "Tropic of Cancer," Magali
Noel, is also in the film, as Fortunata,
the lesbian wife of the emperor
Eumolpus, played by Salvo
Randone.

The print at the University is
dubbed. Fortunately, the dubbing
is not as poor as last year's "Z."
Most of the English voices match
the quality of the original Italian
soundtrack, with the exception of
Eumolpus, who sounds too Cockney
to be an emperor. The only real
fault with the dub-job is the usual
problem of synchronization, but
for the most part, it is quite good.

Ugly People

Despite the plot failures, "Satyricon"
is an intriguing film to watch.
No other director can fill a screen
with so many ugly people, in sumptuous
sets and costumes, and have
them participate in some droll spectacle.
I especially enjoyed the
make-ups of Rino Curboni, particularly
the thick white creams that
look like layers of heavy plaster
falling off a wall. All these production
virtues are beautifully captured
in colors that are natural at times,
which often turn to schemes using
one color.

The final question about "Satyricon'
will naturally be, what does
this nightmare mean? That's a good
question, and I can't answer it, and
I don't believe Fellini could even if
he were pinned against a wall. In
interviews, he's told the press his
film is a science fiction taking place
in the past in a society that knows
no Christianity, and that the similarities
between the past and
present are striking. If we believe
this, the film could be a masterpiece,
but one should never trust a
Fellini interview. The thematics he
talks about are there in the film,
yet they don't mesh very well.
There is too much side-stepping in
the film, especially in the last thirty
minutes, creating the vaguest ending
since "2001."

Moral Problem

Consider "8½" and "Juliet of the
Spirits." In these films, Fellini has a
strong central character, who at the
end of the film has faced and
overcome a moral and personal
problem. The director of "8½"
learns to live with his real life and
his fantasies, while Juliet liberates
herself from the crippling aspects of
Catholicism and fears of sexual and
emotional freedom. Both films are
optimistic and human. In "Satyricon"
Fellini ends the film with a
freeze which dissolves into a fresco
of the principal characters. Very
photographic, but does this tell us a
thing about the characters? It
appears that Fellini doesn't know
what will happen to them, and
therefore neither will we.

Of course, the characters in
other Fellini films are human beings
and are treated as such. In "Satyricon"
we are shown a minotaur and
demigod and characters that are
objects. There is a detachment not
only from the characters, but
throughout the entire film, as if
Fellini couldn't care for his project.
This is the picture's greatest flaw;
either Fellini's personal interest is
totally lacking or the meaning of
the film is so personal that nobody
but Fellini can understand it. From
the looks of "Satyricon," it appears
that Fellini's mind is messed up
too.

***

The Barracks Road this week
has a tear-jerking double bill, both
of which have graced the silver
screens of C'ville before, and are
hence not candidates for review.
The first film is "Charly," with
Cliff Robertson. This is a corny
story about a moron who becomes
a genius. Robertson's acting, with
considerable assistance from Claire
Bloom, saves the show. Also showing
is "Jenny," or "That Girl Gets
PG." This is a delightful yarn about
an unwed mother who decides to
keep it. After being conditioned by
Marlo Thomas' television acting, I
don't know if I can swallow that
pill.

Downtown at the Paramount,
there's a revival of "2001." This
spaced-out epic adventure probably
has done more to contribute to
pre-movie smoking than any other
film, excepting "Fantasia," and
maybe "Duck Soup." Aside from
all that, the film is though provoking
and has interesting performances
by HAL and the monkeys,
and a nonperformance by Keir Dullea
as MAN.