Before ancient times, there were two divine stones left in the mortal world. The eastern one turned into a magical monkey and became the undisputed protagonist in Eastern mythology. The western one turned into a magnificent one. Cities carry all the greatness in the Western world.
The beginning of the film is a close-up of a stone stele inserted in the soil-"Rome: 340 kilometers". Obviously, this is Fellini’s hometown of Rimini, and it is also the story of "Amachod" and "Langtanger". Where it happened. "Roman Style Painting" is the continuation of the story of "Lang Dang Er". In "Lang Dang Er", Fellini, who set foot on the train to Rome, finally came to the dream city in "Roman Style Painting".
At the Rome train station, Fellini was born wearing a white suit and carrying a suitcase. For Fellini, Rimini only gave birth to his womb, and Rome was the real beginning of life. Fellini said: "The first time I saw Rome, I smelled home. I was born on the day I arrived in Rome. Since then, I have never wanted to leave Rome for a minute." Not only that, he also faked the mouth of others in the "Interview", calling Rome "the most beautiful city in the world". In Fellini's view, even beggars in Rome should be happy because they are in the world. Begging in the most beautiful city.
When it comes to "Roman Style Painting", one cannot fail to mention "Mythology of Love" (the former is almost a sequel to the latter). If "Myth of Love" is Fellini's dream of ancient Rome, then "Roman Style Painting" is Fellini's modern Roman imagination. Thousands of years have passed since the first century BC, and Rome is no longer the Rome it used to be. Only Fellini's dreams are still radiant.
Fellini has never been a faithful recorder. He is someone who even made his own "Interview" so dreamy and illusory. Therefore, "Roman Style Painting" was not a documentary from the beginning, but Fei Rini's dream reconstruction of Rome. In Fellini’s Rome, the streets are people’s carnival venues, where people eat and dance on the street; in the brothel, fat women with big breasts sell out their coquettish coquettishness, men are seduced by naked flesh; in the church, the pope Dressed in luxurious and luxurious costumes with the priests, they do their best to sing and dance; the square is a big bed of young people's desires, and groups of young people kiss and caress in the square; of course, Fellini's favorite is indispensable The circus and the clown... In Fellini's dream, Rome is no longer a city, but a symbol of carnival, a magnificent spectacle, and a paradise of desire.
But Fellini's dream was still awakened. The construction team digging the subway found an ancient Roman cave. The mural inside was a masterpiece of history and art. When the workers opened the cave, the mural quickly fell off due to the erosion of the air and was destroyed... In the end, only one side was left. Mottled soil wall. On the other hand, heavily armed troops poured into the square and drove the people who were carving away. They wanted to turn this into a large parking lot; while the mighty army of locomotives, like a group of mechanical locusts, went through Rome unscrupulously. The roar of machines in churches, temples and arenas awakened Fellini's dream and pierced the history of Rome.
At the end of the movie, the famous Roman-born star Anna Melanie appeared. She asked the camera: "Who am I?" The narrator replied, "You are a noble lady, a loyal virgin, and a vulgar seller. Fish woman. You are melancholy and full of joy." This is Melanie's question for Rome, and Fellini's answer to Rome. Fellini's Rome is always a combination of contradictions, rich and poor, joy and sorrow, debauchery and chastity, sacred and humble, because of this, Rome is so charming.
I tried to describe the inescapable friendship between Fellini and Rome, such as Yang Dechang and Taipei, Woody Allen and New York, or Inarito and Mexico City, but they all felt that it was far from enough. Instead, It was a sentence on the poster of "Mythology of Love" that reminded me that it read-Rome: Before Christ, After Fellini.
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