At the wedding of her pimp, Carmine, ‘Mamma Ro’ announces her retirement from prostitution. She first returns to her poverty-stricken native village to reclaim her estranged son then moves into a newly constructed apartment complex in Rome. Mamma’s tragicomic attempts to create a new life for herself are met with a variety of obstacles. Set among Rome’s borgate, a counter-culture of Rome’s lower depths, Mamma Roma depicts the social impact of emerging middle-class values in its ironic story of a mother’s love for her child.

Pasolini’s iconoclastic vision renders the world of criminals, prostitutes and pimps with the sacred elegance of religious Renaissance paintings. This seeming lack of judgment towards society’s reprobates made his work deeply controversial. Equally subversive is the casting of Oscar winning actress Anna Magnani, her brilliant performance endowing her character with a mythical dimension.

"Hell hath no fury like Mamma Roma, the virago played so stormily by Anna Magnani ... seethes with the sensuality and dark iconoclasm" - New York Times

Cast & Credits: Anna Magnani / Ettore Garofolo / Franco Citti / Silvana Corsini / Luisa Loiano / Paolo Volponi / Luciano Gonini / Directed - Pier Paolo Pasolini

Awards: Venice Film Festival (1962), Won, Italian Cinema Clubs Award, Pier Paolo Pasolini / Venice Film Festival (1962), Won, Best Actress, Anna Magnani / Venice Film Festival (1962), Nominated, Golden Lion, Pier Paolo Pasolini

Technical: 1962 / 102 minutes / Italian with English subtitles / Mono audio / 1.33 : 1 Black & White / DVD PAL Multi Region / Rating 15 / MRBDVD038

Licensed from Intramovies.

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