Using a brief framing device of a man named Snaporaz (director Federico Fellini's alter ego Marcello Mastroianni) falling asleep on a train ride, the 1981 City of Women quickly evolves into an outrageous fantasy in which Snaporaz stumbles into a feminist convention, and learns what women want, so to speak. Ridiculed, humiliated, and baffled, Snaporaz ends up at the house of Dr. Zuberkock (Ettore Manni), a broadly painted chauvinist who is celebrating his 10,000th conquest, where he takes a wonderfully filmed surreal carnival ride revisiting the high points of his sexual youth and adolescence. Overlong and allegorically overweight, Fellini's grand spectacle features some brilliant vignettes, but cannot sustain its muddled examination of the battle between the sexes. To make matters worse, the widescreen DVD transfer sports disappointingly flat colors. Extras include a pair of featurettes and the usual photo galleries and talent files. Fellini completists will surely want to this pick up; for others, it's an optional purchase. (R. Pitman)[Blu-ray/DVD Review—May 31, 2015—Cohen, 139 min., R, DVD: $29.98, Blu-ray: $39.98—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 1980's City of Women features a great transfer with dual mono audio. Extras include a “making-of” featurette (30 min.), interviews with production designer Dante Ferretti (20 min.) and filmmaker Tinto Brass (10 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: this lesser Fellini film looks luminous on Blu-ray.]
City of Women
New Yorker, 138 min., in Italian w/English subtitles, not rated, $29.99 Vol. 16, Issue 3
City of Women
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