Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Roma Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 9, 2022

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Essential Fellini.

It may not quite match the treatment Criterion afforded a certain iconic Swedish director with their frankly almost overwhelming Ingmar Bergman's Cinema release, but Essential Fellini should pretty easily serve as either an absolutely first rate introduction to or a nostalgic reacquaintance with one of Italy's most legendary filmmakers. Fourteen beloved if sometimes controversial Fellini films have been aggregated in this set, along with a bonus disc offering a special devoted to Marcello Mastroianni, and while Criterion only provided check discs for the purposes of this review, from the looks of things online, this is another beautifully packaged set from the label with a number of non-disc swag packaging bonuses.

Roma is one of the films in this set which has had a prior release on Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection. Those wanting a plot recap are encouraged to read Svet's Roma Blu-ray review of the 2015 Criterion release. I'm not quite the fan of the film that Svet is, though I'm certainly very enthusiastic about it, and that difference is reflected in my overall score.

Roma Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Roma is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Criterion only sent check discs for purposes of this review, and so I'm not privy to any verbiage about the transfer that may be included in an insert booklet, but the actual film includes some introductory text which offers the following information:

Roma was restored from the 35 mm negative held at the Cineteca di Bologna. After its first screening in Rome in 1972, Fellini, in agreement with the producer and the screenwriter Bernardino Zapponi, shortened some scenes for the international market. Traces of that footage remain only in the production documentation and the positive print archived at the Deposito Legale. This is the version made for the international market. The film was restored in 2010 by L'Immagine Ritrovata.

While this information is couched slightly differently than the insert booklet information Svet reproduced in his review, I'm assuming this has to be the same transfer, since so many of the data points between the two informational spiels align. For more information, consult Svet's original review.

Roma Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Roma features an LPCM Mono track which to my ears is interchangeable with the original Criterion release which Svet reviewed. That said, I continue my curmudgeonly ways by slightly downgrading Svet's score since this is another entry where there's a decidedly boxy and reverberant quality at times, as with so many post-looped Italian films. That said, there are no huge issues here, and once again Nino Rota provides an absolutely knockout score, which seems to quote or at least allude to everything from Bolero to circus music. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Roma Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Aside from the lack of an insert leaflet, this release seems to duplicate the same supplements as Criterion's earlier release. More detail on some of these is available in Svet's review of that release.

• Commentary features Frank Burke and was recorded in 2016.


• Deleted Scenes (HD; 17:32) come with a detailed text introduction discussing the background of the scenes.


• Paolo Sorrentino (HD; 15:17) is a 2016 discussion between the filmmaker and New York University film professor and critic Antonio Monda. Subtitled in English.


• Valerio Magrelli (HD; 16:20) is another conversation moderated by Antonio Monda. Subtitled in English.


• Felliniana (HD) is a gallery of so-called "ephemera" related to the film.


• U.S. Trailer (HD; 2:46)

Roma Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Roma is kind of a typically gonzo Fellini love letter to the city that has been featured in so many of his films, and if it's a little (a lot?) on the outré side at times, isn't that what you come to a Fellini film for? Technical merits are solid and the supplements very appealing. Highly recommended.