Let's be realistic.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

In Rome, middle-aged Anna Magnani (as Mamma Roma) tries to shed her past life as a prostitute and reconnect with rebellious teenage son Ettore Garofolo (as Ettore). He moves in as she gets a legitimate job. Things already show signs of falling apart when young ex-pimp Franco Citti (as Carmine) returns to town. After failing to make himself respectable, Mr. Citti demands Ms. Magnani return to the working the world's oldest profession. If not, he threatens tell son Garofolo about Magnani's sordid past...This neo-realistic drama loses some realism in the story. You have to wonder how Citti ("I was 23 and you were 40") hooked up with Magnani and why he doesn't look for more profitable whores, presently. Also, Garofolo (age 17½) certainly seems able to deduce his mother's past. Still, writer/director Pier Paolo Pasolini uses his landscape stylishly, with a lot of walking scenes. Christian religious allegory is prevalent (note Garofolo in bondage). A fly walks across the opening credits, which serves as a comment.******** Mamma Roma (8/31/62) Pier Paolo Pasolini ~ Anna Magnani, Ettore Garofolo, Franco Citti, Silvana Corsini

If Sarah Palin wants to support what she calls her "Mama Grizzlies," she should have Mamma Roma in her stable. This woman (Anna Magnani - The Rose Tattoo, The Secret of Santa Vittoria) is one tough grizzly, especially when it comes to her son, and trying to keep him on the straight and narrow.She used to be a woman of the evening, until her pimp (Franco Citti - Accattone!, Godfather III) marries a country girl and retires, letting her reclaim her now teenage son (Ettore Garofolo in his first film) and move to Rome.He soon falls for a loose woman and in with some unsavory characters. That's when the grizzly rears on her hind legs and goes to work.Director Pier Paolo Pasolini (The Gospel According to St. Matthew, The Decameron, and the last before he was murdered, Salò) used Citti in many of his films. His films, while critically acclaimed, could draw moral outrage. Five minutes were cut from this film by the Italian authorities; although I can only guess where. He still was one of the best, and directed a winner here.

Signora Roma let pigs into a wedding ceremony to eat the leftovers, sprayed on the floor. Pier Paolo Pasolini's film opens with bon appetite. Anna Magnani's charismatic character is one of the guests at the ceremony. She is among the less reserved people at the tables, and throughout the film, she'll take the spotlight, especially when it's not her turn. "We are people who work land" says an old man, whom Signora Roma interrupts, by claiming his words are dreadfully boring. Is she drunk? No, as I'll learn to know, she's a hilarious middle-aged prostitute, laughing out loud whenever she pleases, at whomever she meets, no matter what it is. She can joke about everything, but when she is all alone, she wears a concerned and serious grin on her face. Life is not sweet, it is a struggle in poorly constructed suburbs. "Long live bride and groom" is Signora Roma's last words before she shuts up, after winning a singing duel with the groom, with great success. Mamma Roma likes music and music is playing this film forward. Melancholic and passionate music by Cherubini on the soundtrack during opening credits, suggest I'm about to watch something of certain vitality and spiritually concerned. Fact is, Pasolini's film feels reminiscent of a Mexico-period Luis Buñuel film. Less violent, of course, but more contemplative in some ways, as Pasolini lets impressions sink before moving on with life in the outskirts of Roma.Mamma Roma and her 18 year old son Ettore reunites after a long time. I like how Pasolini establish the mother and son relationship, by showing Signora Roma put on a tango record and learn her son to dance, properly. "At your age, the only woman you need is a mother." Ettore has never had a girlfriend, and never knew his own father. In Fellini's bittersweet film 'La Notti Di Cabiria', money is the root to all evil, and as Giulietta Masina's character will experience, that real love can't be bought. "Can't go anywhere without money" sighs one of Ettore's buddies. Signora Roma express her love to her son, by buying him a motorcycle, so that he can drive around and find himself work. Ettore is torn between his mother and teenage buddies, who are looking for kicks, and hums Elvis Presley. Many teenagers can relate to these dilemmas, and I remember how difficult it sometimes was (and perhaps still is) to listen to yourself, when everyone's got something to say about you. Anna Magnani plays Ettore's mother with headstrong confidence. "Everyone have always liked me" she tells her son, proudly and when Ettore begins an affair with one of the local girls, Bruna, her mother turns protective, and very aggressive. Ettore sells the record player in order to buy Bruna a necklace, but the relationship is doomed to be short-lived. "I don't care if my boy run after a crazy girl. I can get rid of her if I put my mind to it." Although Mamma Roma is not the reason why Ettore's relationship with Bruna ends.Mamma Roma and Ettore's relationship parallels with religion. Inside the cathedral it's a different world than out on the streets. At mass, Signora Roma has her mind on everything else than God. Signora Roma worships her son, calling him an angel, and the next Sunday she plots a trick on a wealthy bureaucrat with another prostitute, while listening to the priest. The thing is Ettore's mother is so busy with earning a living, that her thoughts are always on him, but her work is physically keeping them apart. Pasolini is questioning why we put faith in a Messiah, as well as arguing for a view on life directed by God, as something worth living for. In the end it is the son who is praying to Mamma Roma, she is unable to reach his hand for help, as his clothes are left in his empty room, his body is chained to wood, and a fever is tiring him down. "You don't know yet what an awful place the world can be."

After many years working in the streets of Roma, the middle-age whore Mamma Roma (Anna Magnani) saves money to buy an upper class apartment, a fruit stand and retires from the prostitution. She brings her teenage son Ettore (Ettore Garofolo), who was raised alone in the country, to live with her, and Ettore becomes her pride and joy. However, the boy that does not want to study or work, joins to idle friends, has a crush on a bitch, and Mamma Roma uses her best but limited efforts to straight Ettore and make him an honest man. However, her past haunts her with tragic consequences."Mamma Roma", the second movie of Pier Paolo Pasolini, is an impressive, cruel, touching, riveting realistic drama. Anna Magnani has an awesome performance in the role of a limited mother trying to live an honest life and give the best for her son. Franco Citti has a short, but also fantastic acting in the role of a nasty pimp. In times when Hollywoodian fairytale world prevails in most worldwide movie theaters and rentals, it is good to revisit the real world in this unforgettable gem. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Mamma Roma"