Satyricon (1969)

 Federico Fellini's "Satyricon"

Loosely based on the 1st century Latin work "Satyricon," Federico Fellini's delirious concoction of a film, 1969's "Satyricon" is a madcap work, even for the likes of Fellini. When the film was first screened at the 30th Venice Film Festival, it was met with a generally positive reception, albeit critics wrote about the film with "stunned bewilderment." Although set during the Roman times of Nero, the depiction of Imperial Rome is far more like a surreal dream.

The film is broken out between 9 episodes, most featuring a character called Encolpius. While there is a loose narrative structure, the film can be difficult to surmise a consistent plot, as most of the scenes are filled with too many abstractions to coherently build linear cohesion. However, we follow Encolpius, the pansexual, as he attempts to traverse the delirious and wild environment of paganist debauchery and violence in Imperial Rome. 

I was completely floored by the surreal aspects of the film and the fever-dream like nightmare of its narrative. While I didn't walk away from the film with any revelatory conclusions, I felt as if I had just emerged from a haze of drunkenly stumbling through pagan practices. The film is a wild ride, one that I won't soon forget.