Roma /

Roma, also known as Fellini's Roma, is a 1972 semi-autobiographical, poetic film depicting director Federico Fellini's move from his native Rimini to Rome as a youth. It is formed by a series of loosely connected episodes. The plot is minimal, and the only character to develop significantly is Rome herself. Peter Gonzales plays the young Fellini, and the film features mainly unknowns in the cast, but includes uncredited guest appearances by Anna Magnani, Marcello Mastroianni, Feodor Chaliapin, Jr., Alberto Sordi, Gore Vidal, John Francis Lane, Elliott Murphy and Fellini himself. The appearances by Marcello Mastroianni and Alberto Sordi were deleted in the later copies of the film and in VHS and DVD editions. The film was screened at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival, but wasn't entered into the main competition. Fellini repeatedly contrasts Roman life in wartime Fascist Italy with its counterpart in the early 1970s. The wartime scenes emphasize the congregation of neighbors in Rome's public places such as street restaurants, a variety show, and a bomb shelter. With the exception of hippies and a conversational scene with Fellini bemoaning the loss of Roman life with radical students,