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Fellini Satyricon movie storyline. The fall of ancient Rome was brought about by debauchery and hedonism more so than any foreign invaders. Two students leave school to pursue their ribald sexual fantasies. The Roman togas cannot hide director Fellini’s contempt for modern youth as he draws parallels between the moral decay of Rome and the hippies of today who live fort he moment.
The two engage in homosexual behavior with an effeminate friend, and take pleasure in a Nubian slave girl. Encolpio (Martin Potter) battles the Minotaur in a confusing labyrinth. Ascilto (Hiram Keller) is his friend as he and Encolpio find themselves kidnapped and made into galley slaves by Tryphaena (Capucine). The two kidnap an albino hermaphrodite thought to have magic powers. Drunken orgies and fabulous banquets are the highlights of events for the morally decadent Romans.
Fellini Satyricon, or simply Satyricon, is a 1969 Italian fantasy drama film written and directed by Federico Fellini and loosely based on Petronius’s work Satyricon, written during the reign of Emperor Nero and set in imperial Rome. The film is divided into nine episodes, following Encolpius and his friend Ascyltus as they try to win the heart of a young boy named Gitón within a surreal and dream-like Roman landscape.
Fellini’s project saw competition from another film titled Satyricon, released the same year. Producer Alfredo Bini had registered the Satyricon title in 1962. When Fellini and his producer Alberto Grimaldi started work on their film, Bini contracted Gian Luigi Polidoro to direct his own version. Grimaldi sued Bini to halt the competing film, but lost; as a result, Fellini’s picture was titled Fellini Satyricon to distinguish it.
Co-screenwriter Bernardino Zapponi noted that Fellini used a deliberately jerky form of dubbing that caused the dialogue to appear out of sync with the actors’ lips. This was in keeping with his original intention of creating a profound sense of estrangement throughout the film.
Fellini Satyricon (1969)
Directed by: Federico Fellini
Starring: Martin Potter, Hiram Keller, Max Born, Salvo Randone, Capucine, Magali Noël, Danika La Loggia, Giuseppe Sanvitale, Lucia Bosè, Hylette Adolphe, Joseph Wheeler
Screenplay by: Federico Fellini, Bernardino Zapponi, Brunello Rondi
Production Design by:
Cinematography by: Giuseppe Rotunno
Film Editing by: Ruggero Mastroianni
Costume Design by: Danilo Donati
Set Decoration by: Danilo Donati, Luigi Scaccianoce
Music by: Nino Rota, İlhan Mimaroğlu, Tod Dockstader, Andrew Rudin
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: United Artists
Release Date: September 3, 1969 (Rome), September 18, 1969 (Italy), March 11, 1970 (United States)
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