Federico Fellini's movies were deliberately bizarre, but none more so than "Satyricon". The story focuses on ancient Rome during the decline, and we get to see WHY it was declining: the ruling class was disgustingly decadent. Two young men (Martin Potter and Hiram Keller) are the window into this orgiastic society. An example of the decadence is when a patrician man rips his servant's hand off, just to entertain his patrician friends.

Overall, "Satyricon" is not the sort of movie that you can try to simply describe; like I said, it's deliberately bizarre. A far cry from the glamorous sword-and-sandal movies that came out of the US, this film never idealizes ancient Rome. On the contrary, the whole place looks very grim. But don't let that give you the wrong impression. Fellini accomplished a visually stunning masterpiece with this movie.

A series of disjointed mythical tales set in first century Rome.

I have seen a handful of Fellini's work, certainly the better-known ones. And while I have not seen them all, I will go on record as of now (2015) and say this was his best work. The costumes, the use of color, the strange, exotic world of Rome where actors use flatulence for humor.

This is unlike anything you have even seen. Not as colorful or exotics as "Donkeyskin" and not as depraved as "Caligula", this is still a Rome where debauchery reigns. Impressively, although homosexual acts and relationships play a central part, there is practically nothing explicit (male or female) in the film, and can easily pass as PG.

I admire Federico Fellini and what films so far I've seen of his. While not a bad film at all, of the 8 films I've seen(La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, Amarcord, La Strada, Nights of Cabiria, Roma, Casanova and Satyricon),Satyricon is my least favourite. I did find the story disjointed, some scenes are fine but others are not sure what tone it wants to be or I wasn't sure what they were trying to do. While the characters are not as detached to the audience in the way the titular character from Casanova is, whereas I identified with the leads of La Strada and especially Nights of Cabiria the characters were never really developed enough to make me care properly. Pacing has rarely, if ever, been an issue in Fellini films, I am well aware that his pacing is largely deliberate, but with a story and characters that I was indifferent to on the most part I will admit that my interest did waver. Also, the parts dealing with sexual immaturity were really quite bizarre to put it politely. However, Satyricon is stunning visually with striking roman garb and costumes beautifully photographed, and Fellini's direction while not as nostalgic as personal as some of his other films is accomplished. The score positively sweeps and accompanies the film very well, while the acting from especially the two leads is very good. Overall, there will be people who admire this film and others who'll find it self-indulgent and perhaps cold. Coming from someone who still isn't sure what she makes of Satyricon, I can understand both sides. I am glad I watched it, however I can't see myself watching it again. 6/10 Bethany Cox