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City of Women

Original title: La città delle donne
  • 1980
  • R
  • 2h 19m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
8.6K
YOUR RATING
Marcello Mastroianni in City of Women (1980)
Trailer for City of Women
Play trailer1:29
1 Video
99+ Photos
SatireComedyDramaFantasy

A businessman finds himself trapped at a hotel and threatened by women en masse.A businessman finds himself trapped at a hotel and threatened by women en masse.A businessman finds himself trapped at a hotel and threatened by women en masse.

  • Director
    • Federico Fellini
  • Writers
    • Federico Fellini
    • Bernardino Zapponi
    • Brunello Rondi
  • Stars
    • Marcello Mastroianni
    • Anna Prucnal
    • Bernice Stegers
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.9/10
    8.6K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Federico Fellini
    • Writers
      • Federico Fellini
      • Bernardino Zapponi
      • Brunello Rondi
    • Stars
      • Marcello Mastroianni
      • Anna Prucnal
      • Bernice Stegers
    • 41User reviews
    • 27Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 6 wins total

    Videos1

    City of Women
    Trailer 1:29
    City of Women

    Photos115

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    Top cast71

    Edit
    Marcello Mastroianni
    Marcello Mastroianni
    • Snàporaz
    Anna Prucnal
    Anna Prucnal
    • Elena
    Bernice Stegers
    Bernice Stegers
    • Woman on train
    Jole Silvani
    • Motorcyclist
    • (as Iole Silvani)
    Donatella Damiani
    Donatella Damiani
    • Donatella (Woman on roller skates)
    Ettore Manni
    Ettore Manni
    • Dr. Xavier Katzone
    Fiammetta Baralla
    • Oliver Hardy
    Hélène Calzarelli
    • Feminist
    • (as Helene G. Calzarelli)
    Catherine Carrel
    • Commandant
    Marcello Di Falco
    • Slave
    Silvana Fusacchia
    • Skater
    Gabriella Giorgelli
    Gabriella Giorgelli
    • Fishwoman of San Leo
    Dominique Labourier
    Dominique Labourier
    • Feminist
    Stéphane Emilfork
    • Feminist
    Sylvie Matton
    • Feminist
    • (as Sylvie Mayer)
    Meerberger Nahyr
    Sibilla Sedat
    • Judge
    Katren Gebelein
    • Enderbreith Small
    • Director
      • Federico Fellini
    • Writers
      • Federico Fellini
      • Bernardino Zapponi
      • Brunello Rondi
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews41

    6.98.6K
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    Featured reviews

    8squelcho

    Fellini does feminism.

    I'm not going to pretend that this is classic Fellini, or a masterpiece of Italian/European art-house cinema, but.....there's a lot going on in this movie that rewards a lengthy attention span. Mastroiani plays the archetypal middle-aged menopausal misogynist, the oldest swinger in town, calling women everything but women. Sows, mares, bitches, etc.

    Fellini effortlessly sets him up for a long slow surreal fall from grace, deconstructing his fear of women in the process. It's a temporal culture clash, as stiff monochrome macho sexism meets technicolour badass feminism head on.

    There's a few of Fellini's sublime production games going on in the background, most notably the orgasm orchestra that builds from the sono-portraits of Marcello's past lovers. The symbolism on display throughout is typically oblique, but it's effortlessly played for laughs in a way that few of his earlier films managed.

    I've seen most of Fellini's output, from La Strada to Ginger and Fred, and for me this movie stands out along with those two as an accessible entry point into the satirical world view of one of Italy's most interesting directors.

    It's certainly not a masterpiece, but it's definitely a wry look at the sexual mores of the day. And the cinematography ain't bad either.
    7TheLittleSongbird

    Not very subtle, but still an interesting Fellini

    Continuing my Fellini quest, I found City of Women to be interesting. It is not my favourite Fellini, the pace feels sluggish at times and it is rather shrill and unsubtle in tone. On the other hand, Fellini directs beautifully with his distinctive style most evident. City of Women is visually stunning in scenery, costumes and cinematography. The music is full of cheerful energy and nostalgia, while in terms of writing the autobiographical aspects are interesting, the self-parody and satirical aspects are funny and the dream aspects are appropriately dream-like and in an enchanting way. The story shines with the personal and nostalgic style that is so distinctive of Fellini. The acting is fine, especially from the ever compelling Marcello Mastroianni, though his performances in La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2 are even better.

    All in all, interesting but I personally would have preferred more subtlety. 7/10 Bethany Cox
    Ymir4

    Entertaining, funny, absurd, visually marvelous.

    Fellini never made too many films that had absurdly intense sexual themes and dialogue. He made two, and along with `Casanova,' `The City of Women' revolves almost entirely around sex. What `City of Women' has that `Casanova' did not, however, is a beautiful child-like view of things that really makes Fellini's movies fun in the first place. It also has Marcello Mastroianni (one of my favorite actors) and gorgeous surreal cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno. `City of Women' begins, appropriately enough, with a train going into a tunnel. Marcello Mastroianni is Snaporez, an again man on a train. He begins to flirt with the woman who is sitting across from him and follows her into the bathroom. As he reveals his lustful feelings, the train suddenly stops and she gets out. He runs after her and ends up at a hotel that appears to be hosting a feminist convention, a REALLY exaggerated and completely insane feminist convention. He soon discovers the entire land he is in is populated with women. Snaporaz is both frightened and in awe of the variety of women that surround him, and they represent virtually all viewpoints of feminist issues - from angry man-haters to whores to crazy teenage girls to dancers to roller skaters to older, more motherly women. Throughout the film the women are clearly in total control, and I interpret this film as a womanizer's nightmare, which makes perfect sense.

    The film is perfect by no means, but it's still a bit of a treasure if you're a Fellini fan who has explored most of his body of work, and yet are still starved for some Felliniesque fun. This film has that, and a lot of it. The greatest scene in the film is toward the end, where Snaporez crawls under a bed and comes out inside a bright beautiful carnival. He slides down a stylized rollercoaster and mentally goes through some of his life's most memorable sexual situations. This was a marvelous scene, with a beautiful carnival set, and above all, brilliantly scored by Luis Bacalov.

    Overall, I have no idea who will like this film. Even Fellini fans seem to dislike it, or even hate it. I found it to be a lot of fun, and visually marvelous.
    7Nazi_Fighter_David

    Of all the Fellini films, this is probably his most erotic

    It is not as much a study of eroticism as it is one man's erotic fantasy about the battle between the sexes…

    A rich, horny Italian (Mastroianni) meets a woman on a train… When the train stops, he follows her into a lonely wood, which becomes a futuristic world of forceful women who have almost entirely destroyed completely all men in their society…

    Mastroianni's character is left alive as a curiosity piece… His experiences carry him deeper and deeper into this bizarre fantasy city… The film never fully provides passion and erotic lusts, but is tickling and stimulating pleasantly none the less... Fellini's point—that women resent the fact that men are easily excited—is most effectively carried by Donatella Damiani, a buxom and very beautiful young actress who runs nearly naked throughout the movie…

    Although the film never tires, it never quite completes its erotic expectations either, giving priority to consider carefully its own bizarre reality… It has elements of science fiction and adventure, but is more exactly a fantasy on the estrangement between men and women...
    8MartinTeller

    City of Women

    Kind of shrill and not very subtle, but nonetheless fascinating. Marcello Mastroianni plays "Snaporaz" (Fellini's nickname for the actor), who gets lost in a nightmare world where he is confronted with feminism, absurd satires of machismo and sexual fantasies and confusion. This film doesn't seem to have a very good reputation, even among Fellini fans, but I was mostly enthralled with its strange, unpredictable rhythms, visually astonishing sets, sense of humor and dreamworld logic. The cinematography (by Guiseppe Rotunno, who did a number of other Fellini films, as well as ALL THAT JAZZ, with which this picture shares some similarities) is delightful and the score is a mix of the usual carnivalesque tunes and eerie, more modern sounds... and one hell of a great Italo-disco song. Some parts are annoying or just too long, but overall it's my favorite of Fellini's later career, a surreal amusement about masculine fear and self-loathing.

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    Related interests

    Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
    Satire
    Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Elijah Wood in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
    Fantasy

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Prior to Marcello Mastroianni, the role of Snàporaz was offered to Dustin Hoffman. He declined after he couldn't convince Federico Fellini to shoot the movie in direct sound rather than dubbing it afterwards. Hoffman feared dubbing himself would compromise his performance.
    • Goofs
      When Mastroianni is following Bernice Stegers in the woods in the beginning of the movie, reflection of the crew can be seen clearly in her sunglasses.
    • Quotes

      Old Lady: "A house without a woman", they say in my parts, "is like the Sea without a Siren". Don't you agree with me?

    • Connections
      Edited into Fellini: I'm a Born Liar (2002)
    • Soundtracks
      Una donna senza un uomo è
      Music and Lyrics by Mary Francolao

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    FAQ18

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 8, 1981 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Italy
      • France
    • Language
      • Italian
    • Also known as
      • Grad zena
    • Filming locations
      • Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy(Studio)
    • Production companies
      • Opera Film Produzione
      • Gaumont
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $12,516
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $6,244
      • Feb 21, 2016
    • Gross worldwide
      • $12,932
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 2h 19m(139 min)
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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