Fellini Satyricon (1969) - Fellini's horny, ancient baccanale

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A delightfully brash and outrageous tagline accompanied by a great quote from the filmmaker and an unashamed picture of male homosexuality make up this incredible poster for Federico Fellini's Fellini Satyricon

At the time of Caesar's reign of the Roman Empire, we follow two merry young men at his court, who covet the same younger man and experience a serious of ... events ... on their journey ...

Fellini Satyricon is written by Bernardino Zapponi (Paprika (1991)), Brunello Rondi (Arabella (1967)) and Italian master co-writer/director Federico Fellini (The White Sheik/Lo Sceicco Bianco (1952)), adapting Petronius' Satyricon (54-68 AD).
The film is a nearly plot-free, psychedelic, dilly-dallying, carnevalic endeavor, - and perhaps the horniest motion picture ever made?
Fellini Satyricon is naughty and very elaborate, absolutely among the strangest and most transgressive of 1969's cinema trips. It is visually extraordinary, (cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno (Julia and Julia (1987))), at times arousing, and it has an ending in which the lustful gathering in posterity only exist on crumbling frescoes, which is highly moving. Fellini Satyricon makes it hard to fathom that Fellini wasn't gay, (no doubt he must have had a vivid bisexual side at least.)

Related posts:

Federico Fellini: Top 10: The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
8½ (1963) or, Vive la Cinema!
Top 10: The best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
La Dolce Vita (1960) - Fellini's immortal masterpiece
Nights of Cabiria/Le Notti di Cabiria (1957) - Fellini serves private infatuation as incredible masterpiece  

Watch a 2-minute clip from the film here

Cost: 3 mil. $
Box office: Reportedly 8 mil. $ outside of Italy
= Uncertain, but certainly a box office success
[Fellini Satyricon premiered 3 September (Rome, Italy) and runs 129 minutes. Shooting took place in Italy, including Rome, from November 1968 - May 1969. Fellini has said about his goal with the film; "to eliminate the borderline between dream and imagination: to invent everything and then to objectify the fantasy; to get some distance from it in order to explore it as something all of a piece and unknowable." Another Satyricon was made in Italy also in 1969; Fellini's producer Alberto Grimaldi sued to stop that film but lost, and Fellini's film was retitled to Fellini Satyricon to distinguish it from the other. The film's Venice Film Festival screenings inspired wild praise and hype, with tickets reportedly selling on the black market for prizes upwards of 100 $. The film made 1.4 mil. $ in rentals in North America, and was reportedly a big hit in France, Japan and Italy. The Italian gross is not included in the figure listed above but could likely be anywhere from 1-3 mil. $, which could possibly make the film rank as a big hit. The film was Italy's entry for the Best Foreign Film Oscar but went unnominated in 1970; however, Fellini was nominated as Best Director for it in 1971 instead, losing to Franklin J. Schaffner for Patton. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe and won an award in Venice, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/6 star review, translating to 2 notches higher than this one. Fellini returned with The Clowns/I Clowns (1970, TV documentary) and theatrically with Roma (1972). Fellini Satyricon is fresh at 76 % with a 6.9/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Fellini Satyricon?

La Dolce Vita (1960) - Fellini's immortal masterpiece

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One of the fabulous, glamorous posters for Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita

QUICK REVIEW:

A Roman journalist spends a week chasing women, partying, interviewing a Swedish movie star, covering a religious mass hysteria and reconnecting with his father.

The 7th feature by Italian master filmmaker Federico Fellini (La Strada (1955)) is a true masterpiece and a multi-faceted salute to beauty and the myriads of variety in life; to eroticism, the woman, the city and the night.
Anouk Aimée (8½ (1963)), Marcello Mastroianni (What?/Che? (1972)) and Anita Ekberg (The French Sex Murders/Casa d'Appuntamento (1972)) are equally splendid in the film, which also has one of the most fantastic and memorable beginnings and endings in cinema history.
La Dolce Vita [which translates to 'the sweet life'] is written by Fellini, Ennio Flaiano (The Tenth Victim/La Decima Vittima (1965)), Tullio Pinelli (8½) and Brunello Rondi (Sex Life in a Women's Prison/Prigione di Donne (1974)), with uncredited work done by great Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Passolini (The Gospel According to St. Matthew/Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo (1964)). - Don't miss this magical piece of cinema history!

Related posts:

Federico Fellini: Top 10: The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
8½ (1963) or, Vive la Cinema!
Nights of Cabiria/Le Notti di Cabiria ((1957) - Fellini serves private infatuation as incredible masterpiece 

Anita Ekberg in Rome's Trevi fountain in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita

Marcello Mastroianni on the beach in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita

Here's a trailer for the film

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 19.5 mil. $ (North America only)
= Unknown (likely a big to huge hit)
[La Dolce Vita was released February 5 (Italy) and runs ca. 180 minutes. The film was mostly shot in Rome's Cinecittà studio, where more than 80 sets were reportedly created, making it a very costly film to mount. The Trevi fountain scene was, however, shot in the actual fountain, either in January or March, (sources differ), - but the water was definitely so freezing that Mastroianni had to wear a wetsuit under his costume (and chug vodka), while Ekberg completed it in just her gown. La Dolce Vita is also famous for coining the term 'paparazzi', which is the name of a tabloid character in the film. The film became a target for censorship: It was condemned by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano and banned in Spain for 15 years. But it was also hailed by scores of critics; it won the Palme d'Or in Cannes and the Best Costume Design Oscar and is recognized as one of the finest films ever. It was also nominated for direction, screenplay and art direction, which it lost to Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for West Side Story, William Inge for Splendour in the Grass and The Hustler, respectively. A cost or world total for the film is not to be found online, but there seems little doubt that the film was a hit, probably a big or huge hit. La Dolce Vita is certified fresh at 96 % with a 9.1 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of La Dolce Vita?