FELLINI SATYRICON is an adaptation of Petronius' classic novel about the decadence of ancient Rome circa 50 to 66 AD, during emperor Nero's reign. Federico Fellini's film was made 10 years before CALIGULA, which is somewhat similar because of the same time period and location.
It follows the adventures of two male students, Encolpio (Martin Potter) and Ascilto (Hiram Keller). First they fight over the effeminate boy Gitone (Max Born) whom Ascilto sells to a playwright Vernachio (Fanfulla). An earthquake destroys their home, they meet poet Eumolpo (Salvo Rondone) and attend a banquet orgy thrown by Trimalchio (Mario Romagnoli). A widow offers her husband's corpse to her lover to replace the stolen corpse he was guarding. She says, "Better to hang a dead husband than a living lover."
Our heroes are enslaved on a ship, and Encolpio marries the old captain Lica (Alain Cuny) who is soon killed by rivals. A nobleman, supposedly Petronius (Joseph Wheeler), commits suicide and Encolpio and Ascilto tour his grand house and meet an Ethiopian slave. They next kidnap an albino hermaphrodite demi-god from the temple of Apollo. The hermaphrodite dies, causing Encolpio to become impotent. His cure is sex with a whore-priestess, which fails. He fights a minotaur (George Eastman) and survives by telling him, "I'm only a student." Sex with fat Enotea (Donyale Luna) cures his impotence. Encolpio and Ascilto are going to sail with Eumolpo to Africa, but he dies and his will stipulates that his friends must eat his corpse. Ascilto is murdered and in the end their images are transformed into an ancient fresco painting. Fellini said, "In Satyricon, I was influenced by the look of frescoes. At the end, these people, whose lives were so real to them, are now only crumbling frescoes."
Encolpio: "Ascilto... what does the poet say? Each moment presented may be your last, so fill it up until you vomit... or something such?"
The book by Gaius Petronius Arbiter has survived in fragments, so FELLINI SATYRICON is also fragmentary and less than coherent. The hallucinatory journey visually compensates for this with a parade of over-indulgent, garish, and freaky characters, settings and situations. Fellini defined his movie as, "Science Fiction of the past" and said, "There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the infinite passion of life." He was attracted to the decadence of ancient Rome because of its rich imagery and colours. The larger than life juxtapositions of beauty and ugliness make the film a mesmerizing, grotesque, surreal, and astonishing feast for the eyes.
"SATYRICON" was registered to Gian Luigi Polidoro's film, so Fellini was required to modify the title of his movie. United Artists paid over $1 million to Polidoro for the distribution rights to his version, to keep it off the market until after the release of FELLINI SATYRICON.
Strangely, Fellini made a public announcement that the Beatles and Mae West (as High Priestess) would appear in the movie. He never consulted with them, and of course they are not in the film. When asked why the main actors are not Italians, Fellini replied: "Because there are no homosexual Italians."
The dialogue is Italian with some Latin. It is dubbed in, because that's the way the Italians make most of their movies. India, the world's largest maker of movies, also uses this dubbing method because of the many languages and dialects in India. FELLINI SATYRICON was only available in widescreen format due to Fellini's insistence, but I recently acquired a beautiful full screen "pan and scan" version.
The cast includes: Salvo Randone (Eumolpo), Mario Romagnoli (Trimalcione), Magali Noel (Fortunata), Capucine (Trifena), Alain Cuny (Lica), Fanfulla (Vernacchio), Danika La Loggia (Scintilla), Giuseppe Sanvitale (Abinna), Genius (Liberto Arricchito), George Eastman (Minotaur), Marcello Di Falco (Proconsole), Elisa Mainardi (Arianna), Donyale Luna (Enotea), Eugenio Mastropietro (Cinedo), Irina Maleeva (L'ancella), and many others. Writing credits are Petronius, Federico Fellini, Bernardino Zapponi, and Brunello Rondi. Music was composed by Tod Dockstader, Ilhan Mimaroglu, Nino Rota, and Andrew Rudin. Federico Fellini directed.
CIAO, FEDERICO! (1971) is a behind-the-scenes documentary of the making of FELLINI SATYRICON. It is fascinating to see the movie being made because many of the actors have English accents. Fellini's style and techniques as director are impressive, and he is gracious, patient, larger than life, and completely in control. Gitone plays guitar and sings a Bob Dylan song. Roman Polanski with Sharon Tate visit the outdoor set and Polanski recommends that Fellini should get "stoned" and visit Disneyland. Gideon Bachman scripted and directed.
