Rome: Art And Architecture

The grandeur that was Rome is re-visited by way of its fountains in this voice-over-narrated guide to the Eternal City. Mixing historical fact, architectural appraisal, and art appreciation, the program covers such major landmarks as the Coliseum, the Pantheon, St. Peter's, the Vatican, the Trevi fountain, the Circus Maximus, and the Mouth of Truth (a large sculptured face with an open mouth that will bite off the hand of any wife who doesn't tell her husband the truth; husbands, apparently, can lie a blue streak and still golf that afternoon). The actual footage is of indeterminate age, but the color looks faded--it doesn't really do Rome justice. Universities with large architecture studies programs may want to consider, but this is way too dry a documentary for general viewers. Not a necessary purchase. (R. Pitman)