Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

New 35mm Print!
Anna Magnani is Mamma Roma, a prostitute trying to extricate herself from her sordid past for the sake of her son. The film offers an unflinching look at the struggle for survival in postwar Italy, and highlights director Pasolini's lifelong fascination with the marginalized and dispossessed. Though banned upon its release in Italy for obscenity, today Mamma Roma remains a classic, featuring a powerhouse performance by one of Italy's greatest actresses and offering a glimpse at a country's most controversial director in the process of finding his style. (1962, 110 min, 35mm)