Pasolini's Roma

Mama Roma, directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, is an acclaimed Italian neorealist film that employs strong cinematographic techniques to tell its story. Tonino Delli Colli, the cinematographer, uses framing, lighting, and camera lenses and movements in a magnetic way that draws one into the film. Pasolini’s vision and direction of Mama Roma, combined with Colli’s cinematographic expertise, renders a bold and unique work that triumphantly stands apart, but on the same level as, the many great works created by such names as Federico Fellini, Vittorio DeSica, Roberto Rossellini, and Luchino Visconti.

What separates this Pasolini film from others made by the aforementioned directors is Pasolini’s ability to mesh Italian neorealism with an almost French New Wave touch. This stylistic mesh is especially evident in the scenes when Mama Roma, played by ever captivating Anna Magnani, is walking through her former prostitute haunt in Rome. In these tracking shots, a method typical of the French New Wave, Magnani walks down the street and toward the camera, as it tracks backward with her. The background that is Rome at night is shrilly dark and dreary. Voices and footsteps echo resoundingly and, although a black and white movie, Pasolini emphasizes the world in this scene by making everything a slightly sharper black and white, with sparse grays. The only illumination on the street and its characters is from the seeming thousands of streets lights. There is an endless, almost abyss like, feeling to these images, undoubtedly due to mise-en-scène and use of a wide-angle lens. All of it rings true to the film’s voice. Still, it’s difficult to clearly articulate such mood. Furthermore, the composition is not only startling because of its interminable reverie appearance, but also because these shots are preceded with day shots, creating a dramatic sequential juxtaposition. Nonetheless, the startlingly drastic change, in addition to the overall look of the shot, creates a mysterious and exciting mood that is characteristic of Pasolini.

“Jarring” is synonymous with “Pasolini”. He loves to stir the audience with what he puts on screen, but he does so with meaning. There are no arbitrary actions simply for the love of shock factor, and for this reason much can be learned from Pasolini’s technique. Throughout Mama Roma, he stays true to each persona, even that of the Italy he depicts. I wholly believe in this film from start to finish, just as I did with Amarcord, Ladri di biciclette, Roma, città aperta, and The Damned.