Mamma Roma

“For those who’ve never seen Magnani in her full glory, Mamma Roma provides a fine introduction to one of the most powerfully charismatic performers in the movies.”—Dave Kehr

“A great, great movie, one of Pasolini’s best.”—Georgia Brown, Village Voice

The great actress Anna Magnani is Mamma Roma, an aging prostitute who attempts to extricate herself from her sordid past for the sake of her son. Indebted to the great tradition of Italian neorealism, Mamma Roma offers an unflinching look at the struggle for survival in postwar Italy. In only his second film, director Pier Paolo Pasolini developed his lifelong fascination with the marginalized and dispossessed and began to establish his reputation as his country’s most controversial director when the film was banned for obscenity on its release in Italy. (110 mins., 35mm)