Federico Fellini-La Città delle donne (1980)

In CITY OF WOMEN, Fellini makes no secret of his obsession with women. Cast again as Fellini's favorite alter-ego, Marcello Mastroianni is brilliant as a modern-day Don Juan set adrift on the stormy seas of middle-age and feminism. The film opens with a train entering a leaf-framed tunnel - Fellini's first homage to the erotic metaphors of American movies that have become landmarks of our romantic fantasies. This is the first of many allusions, from Dante to Fred Astaire, marking CITY OF WOMEN as another great work from the master. New Yorker Video




Marcello is in the compartment of an Italian train, facing forward when the mineral water of the woman seated across from him starts to fall toward him. He catches the bottle and makes eye contact and follows her when she leaves the compartment. For a few moments she finds him attractive too. Then suddenly she gets off the train and starts walking through a field. Marcello follows her, loses her, finds himself in a large hotel surrounded by women. A feminist conference is taking place and he tries to escape. (http://imdb.com/title/tt0080539/plotsummary)




"City of Women" shows that the primary fascination Fellini has with women is bonding to their sex. He clearly is much more attracted to the nature of woman than the nature of man. He revels in their intuitive and instinctual side and the fecund, earth mother basis. Certainly the large part of him that exists as an artist is wholly situated in the sphere inhabited by the female sex. (amazon.com)




"City of Women" is a surreal, dream-like evocation of this world and Fellini's draw to it. He is, of course, shut out from it though because he is of the male sex and the closest he was ever enfolded within it was when he was a child and mothered there. (amazon.com)




City of Women is a wonderful surreal film. The film itself plays very much like a dream. Each scene falls into the next with no logical purpose, but, like a dream, it does seem to make sense. There is a confusion about the role of feminism and the militant women in them, but it really isn't enough to stop the enjoyment. The visuals are fabulous, as you would expect in a Fellini film, and the music soundtrack seems to be rifs on the opening theme of the song "Mona Lisa." (amazon.com)




The film has fantastic visuals. The images and scenes from this film have influence so many modern films of today, such as the indoor rollerskating scene. My favorite scenes are the drugged up nymphet delinquent girls and Mastroianni sliding down a huge slide as his sexual history flashes before his eyes. (http://imdb.com/title/tt0080539/usercomments)




The greatest scene in the film is toward the end, where Snaporez crawls under a bed and comes out inside a bright beautiful carnival. He slides down a stylized rollercoaster and mentally goes through some of his life's most memorable sexual situations. This was a marvelous scene, with a beautiful carnival set, and above all, brilliantly scored by Luis Bacalov.
(http://imdb.com/title/tt0080539/usercomments)