Overview
A surreal journey through ancient Rome's decadence and desire unfolds in this unique tale.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- surreal
- decadent
- grotesque
- arthouse film night
- cult cinema marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film's singular visual imagination and hedonistic ancient world while acknowledging its episodic, bewildering strangeness.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The Roman setting is explicitly presented as Fellini's singular, dreamlike invention rather than the Rome of history books.
The film adapts a surviving text made of fragments and itself proceeds through disconnected adventures, even ending mid-sentence.
The characters pursue revelry and debauchery while the film repeatedly frames their excess against death, loss, and transience.
The love triangle, Roman debauchery, hermaphrodite demi-god, and ritualized encounters create an intentionally outrageous sensory register.
Films like Satyricon, and why
8½
surreal, episodic journeys through psychologically charged fantasy worlds with striking visual invention
The Devils
decadent historical fantasy, erotic transgression, and theatrical visions of a collapsing society
The Colour of Pomegranates
mythic ancient-world setting rendered through dream logic, ritual spectacle, and philosophical strangeness
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
fragmentary art cinema concerned with sexuality, mortality, and grotesque human excess
Movie Details
- Director
- Federico Fellini
- Release Date
- 1969-09-18
- Runtime
- 129 min
- Rating
- 6.7 / 10 (371)
Cast
- Martin Potter
- Hiram Keller
- Max Born
- Salvo Randone
- Mario Romagnoli
- Magali Noël
- Capucine
- Fanfulla
- Gordon Mitchell
- George Eastman
Common questions
- What is Satyricon about?
- Fellini transforms fragmentary Petronian fragments into a delirious, erotic, and grotesquely beautiful voyage through an imagined ancient Rome.
- What is Satyricon like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Satyricon as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Satyricon violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Satyricon as mild.
- What did critics think of Satyricon?
- Critics broadly praised the film's singular visual imagination and hedonistic ancient world while acknowledging its episodic, bewildering strangeness.
- Which films are like Satyricon?
- Films with a similar feel include 8½, The Devils, The Colour of Pomegranates, and The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover.
- How long is Satyricon?
- Satyricon runs 129 minutes.
