Woody Allen looks nothing like Federico Fellini even in semi-profile and with a back-light, but his movie To Rome with Love links the two directors in many ways. For example, by the fact that, as in many of Fellini's films, the storyline has several threads, and one of the four stories rather cheekily uses the Fellini blueprint from his 1952 movie, The White Sheik. In another scene, Woody Allen makes a reference to a scene from Annie Hall, in which the people queuing at the box office are talking about Fellini. Now there's a twist on a twist.

But let's not get lost in these references. (There are plenty though.) Being lost is a common motif of these stories. A policeman standing in the middle of Piazza Venezia is a cliché both in tourism and cinematography. But now he seems to be the narrator. You couldn't ask for a better person to help you find your way around Rome. The fact that the person playing Pierluigi Marchionne was a policeman in real life is a charming addition. Those familiar with Woody Allen's movies probably noticed that the director/author has strong ties with the culture of the Old World, from Greek dramas through Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky all the way to Fellini and Ingmar Bergman. (Not to mention Michael Curtiz's Casablanca.) When he shows up in person in Rome, he is wryly self-deprecating about his American self. As a retired opera director, he forces the American way of art management onto the talented tenor, who unfortunately is unable to showcase his talent outside the comfort zone of his shower. Very funny. And deep. Because Rome has its own life. And once in Rome, live like the Romans do. In William Wyler's Roman Holiday, we discover Rome through the eyes of a protagonist coming from the New World. To Rome with Love, on the other hand, takes us, leisurely and with plenty of humour, through a city and a culture that cannot and should not be discovered using a map.

In English, with Hungarian subtitles.
The discussions before and after the screening will be conducted in Hungarian.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest