MovieChat Forums > Roma (1972) Discussion > Has the film been recut?

Has the film been recut?


Was "Roma" recut after its initial release?

I watched "Fellini's Roma" for the first time last night. It had been broadcast on the MGM HD channel a few days before. As I was watching it, I read Roger Ebert's four-star review of the film.

The order of the scenes didn't follow the sequence in Ebert's review. For example, in his review, the traffic jam and the long tracking shot come at the beginning of the film. But the version that I saw begins with a black-and-white shot of a road marker, then cuts to the group of boys crossing the Rubicon. This is followed by scenes of the young Fellini when he first comes to Rome. The traffic jam and tracking shot appear about 30 minutes into the film.

The film later cuts back to the young Fellini in the scenes in the burlesque house and the brothels, then switches back to the present and the ecclesiastical fashion show. The biographical scenes are pretty much limited to two long blocks of time within the film, whereas Ebert implies that there is much cutting back and forth between the past and the present.

Also, the running time came to 1:58, or about 10 minutes less than the time given in Ebert's review. MGM appears to have the current rights to the film, as indicated by the MGM/UA logos throughout. I doubt that it was cut to fit the MGM HD time slot, which was at least 2:15.

reply

The film was recut by Fellini after its original Italian release. He removed certain scenes (including one that features Italian actors Marcello Mastroianni and Alberto Sordi) and that alone should explain the 10 min time difference.

To the best of my knowledge, the current version differs from the premiere version only by these deleted scenes.

reply