Loosely based on the surviving fragments of Petronius’s classic text, Satyricon follows the young Encolpius (Martin Potter) through a series of disconnected, bizarre vignettes in Nero’s Rome. After losing his boy-lover Giton to his friend Ascyltus, Encolpius embarks on a desperate journey through a society defined by excess, decay, and spiritual emptiness.
From the legendary, gluttonous Trimalchio’s Dinner Party to the kidnapping of a hermaphrodite god and a confrontation with a weary Minotaur, the film eschews traditional narrative for pure atmosphere. Fellini creates an “ancient world” that feels entirely alien, utilising avant-garde set designs and a haunting, experimental score.
A landmark of 1960s art-house cinema, Satyricon is Fellini at his most untethered. It is a masterpiece of art direction and costume design that treats history not as a set of facts, but as a crumbling, erotic, and deeply unsettling dream.