Mamma Roma...Has anyone seen it and care to discuss it?

[Mary_Gail_36]

TCM on demand recently featured the film “Mamma Roma” with Anna Magnani. the director is Pasolini.

It was made in the early 1960’s, but not released in the US until sometime in the 1980’s I believe.

I thought that Anna Magnani had a very strong performance.

It’s shot in a Neo-realistic way. But it seemed a bit surreal at times for example there’s a wedding scene with dressed up pigs, brought by Anna Magnani’s character to insult the couple.

I’m not sure how I feel about the film. It’s left me a bit disturbed.

 

[StudentMI]

I love Pasolini’s films. Mamma Roma is very good, but very sad. The film is very dense when you know a bit about Pasolini’s sociological concerns. The triumph of capitalism after world war II, the commodification of bodies, etc.

The final scene mimics a portrayal of the dead Christ. If you haven’t seen Pasolini’s The Gospel According to Saint Matthew I highly recommend it. Arguably the greatest film about Christ ever made.

 

[Mary_Gail_36]

I did see The Gospel According to St. Matthew. It was very good.

I also saw Accatone, which was similar to Mamma Roma, with many of the same actors, the actor who played Accattone is in this film as well, he is again the pimp.

It’s almost as if he continued the role from Accattone here, or maybe this is supposed to be a prequel. In Accattone he’s separated from his wife. Here he’s a newlywed.

And the love interest of Mamma Roma’s son was the prostitute in Accattone.

Maybe the two films fit together as one story?

Pasolini collaborated for the screenplay for “Le Notti di Cabiria”. That’s one of my favorite films. But I like Cabiria. I empathized with her. I don’t know if I like Mamma Roma, even though Anna Magnani is an awesome actress.

I did like her two monologues describing her marriage. But to me it almost seemed that Pasolini couldn’t chose which monologue he liked and put them both in. Neither story seems like they are accurate backstories for Mamma Roma. Or it could be she lied about her life.

 

[Mary_Gail_36]

Any one else? It’s no longer on the TCM on demand lineup.

Did anyone maybe watch because they like Anna Magnani, as opposed to being a Pasolini fan?