Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Mamma Roma Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 8, 2023

Pier Paolo Pasolini's "Mamma Roma" (1962) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include archival program with Bernardo Bertolucci; archival program with cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli; archival program with author Enzo Siciliano; vintage trailer; and more. In Italian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Before the arrival of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s second film, Mamma Roma (1962), mainstream Italian films were very easy to place in two groups. In the first group were the classic neorealist dramas, like Rome, Open City (1945), La terra trema: Episodio del mare (1948), and Bicycle Thieves (1948). Their main goal was to capture on celluloid post-war reality and often they did it better than the conventional documentaries. (Many documentaries that were made during and immediately after WWII were funded by the government and were essentially propaganda films). In the second group were the light comedies that Toto and Eduardo De Filippo routinely appeared in, like 47 Talking Corpses (1950) and The Lucky Five (1952). (Contemporary critics usually describe all post-war Italian comedies as commedia all'italiana, but they are not all the same. I will explain why later). Mamma Roma was the first big mainstream Italian film that authoritatively mixed the type of material that was right for a classic neorealist drama with the type of material that was right for a post-war comedy. After Mamma Roma, the overlapping of such contrasting material was no longer considered a risky endeavor.

Mamma Roma (Anna Magnani) is a retired prostitute who has reunited with her teenage son, Ettore (Ettore Garofolo), and promised him that she would do whatever it takes to be the mother he deserves. With the money Roma has saved, the two move into a small but cozy apartment in a decent neighborhood of the Eternal City and effectively reset their shaky relationship.

Initially, the only money Roma makes is from selling fruits and vegetables in a small market where farmers bring their produce. The work is hard and the money is only a fraction of what Roma was paid for selling dates, but she is satisfied with it and proud to be able to provide for Ettore. However, her motherly love and enthusiasm for the future are rarely appreciated by Ettore and as time passes by the two slowly drift away from each other. While Roma works at the market, Ettore befriends Bruna (Silvana Corsini), a girl with a questionable reputation, and several troublemakers that are planning to begin stealing from a nearby big and overcrowded hospital. When Roma learns about Bruna, she approaches a friend that still does dates for money and asks her to help Ettore forget the girl, and then together with her friend’s pimp tricks the naïve owner of a busy restaurant to hire her son as a waiter. For a while, Ettore walks away from Bruna and the troublemakers but then becomes bored with his job and returns to them. As Ettore’s frustration with life in the big city grows stronger and he evolves into a troublemaker too, Roma is visited by her former pimp, Carmine (Franco Citti), who demands that she pays him a large sum of money to retain her independence.

Pasolini’s deconstruction of motherly love is so pure that a few times it feels a bit controversial. (The segment where Roma asks the younger prostitute to do her best to help Ettore forget Bruna is guaranteed to have raised quite a few eyebrows in the early 1960s). However, it is impossible to question the authenticity of the drama and comedy that flourish during the deconstruction and this is the main reason the entire film works very well.

The other very good reason to see this film is its depiction of the Eternal City. It is a vibrant, rapidly expanding place with an ancient personality that is as easily detectable as its contemporary dark personality. The film constantly overlaps beautiful visuals with old ruins and new buildings and ugly visuals from dark alleys and backroads where Roma’s friends and former clients sell and buy dates.

Magnani, Italy’s biggest female star at the time, leads with tremendous authority. However, despite the many emotional ups and downs that her character must convey, Magnani leaves plenty of space for Garofolo to manage his character right and leave a lasting impression.

*The most celebrated commedia all'italiana films -- like Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958), Divorce Italian Style (1961), Seduced and Abandoned (1964), and I Knew Her Well (1965) -- produce plenty of hilarious material but are thought-provoking litmus tests. The early comedies Toto and De Filippo made were not.

Mamma Roma Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Mamma Roma arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

This release introduces a brand new restoration of Mamma Roma that was completed by Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia - Cineteca Nazionale in Italy in 2022. However, it appears that the project was actually a complex reconstruction job because the restored version of Mamma Roma uses footage from multiple sources (the original negative and a positive print). I like it a lot. I have this DVD release in my library and ran only a few quick comparisons because the overall quality of the 1080p presentation was dramatically better. To be clear, there are a few areas where small density and clarity fluctuations reveal what I believe to be the inserts from the positive print, but the quality of the visuals is still fantastic. Density, delineation, and especially depth are consistently great. The grayscale is managed very well, too. The darker areas, in particular, reveal entire ranges of nuances that are incredibly difficult to recognize on the DVD release. There are no traces of problematic digital adjustments. The entire film looks very healthy as well. My score is 4.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Mamma Roma Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

All exchanges throughout the film are very clear, sharp, and easy to follow. I did not notice any distracting age-related anomalies to report in our review. I had the volume of my system turned up quite a bit, too. However, I must say that the original audio is not particularly strong. The recording of the bassoon concerto, in particular, has some obvious unevenness that could have been addressed in the studio. But this is how the audio has always been. On the Blu-ray, it actually sounds significantly better than it does on the DVD, where certain sections of it are quite thin.

Mamma Roma Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Pier Paolo Paolini - this archival documentary examines the work of Pier Paolo Paolini and some of the key themes that define it. It was made by Ivo Barnabo Micheli in 1995. In Italian, with English subtitles. (59 min).

• Bernardo Bertolucci - in this archival program, Bernardo Bertolucci remembers Pier Paolo Pasolini -- with whom he worked on Accattone -- and discusses the styles, themes, and significance of Mamma Roma. The program was produced in the Fall of 2003. In Italian, with English subtitles. (7 min).

• Tonino Delli Colli - in this archival program, cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli discusses his professional relationship with Pier Paolo Pasolini and collaboration on Mamma Roma. There are some particularly interesting comments about Pasolini's management of the sound in the film and his difficulty working with Anna Magnani. The program was produced in 2003. In Italian, with English subtitles. (9 min).

• Enzo Siciliano - in this archival program, Enzo Siciliano, author of Pasolini: A Biography (1982), discusses Pier Paolo Pasolini's preference for action and dramatic expressiveness, some of the similarities between Aaccattone and Mamma Roma, and the key themes of the latter. The program was produced in 2003. In Italian, with English subtitles. (10 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage Italian trailer for Mamma Roma. In Italian, with English subtitles. (4 min).

• La Ricotta - presented here is La Ricotta, a short segment Pier Paolo Pasolini directed for the omnibus Let's Wash Our Brains: Ro.Go.Pa.G.. La Ricotta has been restored in 4K by L'Immagine Ritrovata in 2022. In Italian, with English subtitles. (36 min).

• Book - a 100-page book featuring an essay and notes on the films by critic James Quandt, and writings and drawings by Pier Paolo Pasolini.

Mamma Roma Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mamma Roma was the first big mainstream Italian film that authoritatively mixed the type of material that was right for a classic neorealist drama with the type of material that was right for a post-war comedy. After Mamma Roma, the overlapping of such contrasting material was no longer considered a risky endeavor. I genuinely believe that had Pier Paolo Pasolini not made it various trends in Italian cinema would have progressed differently. The release we have reviewed is sourced from a wonderful new restoration of Mamma Roma that was completed by Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia - Cineteca Nazionale in Italy in 2022. It is included in Criterion's Pasolini 101, a nine-disc box set, which will be out next month. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.