this be the first fellini film that i saw back in 1974 or so . it be a midnight screening in westwood in cinemascope on a giant screen . i have seldom be so effect by a film . it be so overwhelming and i go back the very next midnight for another look . the sheer amount of detail and strike bizarre symbolic composition continue to overwhelm me . it become my favorite film for a number of year and i must have see it with various friend about 30 time in theater . how can i summarize such a work of art . it a subconscious spectacle and a view of humanity through a fun house mirror in an alternate universe . though later i become a fan of fellini previous and subsequent film and satyricon remain my favorite and i regard it a the high point in fellini career . never have his fertile imagination delve as deeply a here . unlike so much of fellini output and this be not a personal autobiographical film but instead an archetypal film . fellini even have a jungian analyst on the set while shoot . for those who haven not experience it and satyricon be a loose adaptation of the old survive novel of the same name by petronius arbiter and a roman from the time of nero and who write a sprawling series of satirical and bawdy story . the novel only survive in fragment and fellini decide when adapt the tale to not try and patch up the narrative but instead present a series of highly detailed episode . this fit into his view of history . we only know history ( particularly ancient history ) from bit and piece pass down through the age . though the three lead character reappear throughout the film and the other character and situation and locale around them change unexpectedly . now and while these picaresque episode be indeed exotic and weird and funny and it be fellini vision that make this film unique viewing . in particular be his roam camera that be intricately choreograph and put to great use in large group scene . though we take move camera a standard practice today and it really wasn not use nearly as much in the 1960s and fellini have a distinctive way of shoot action and character gesture that still stand out a his own . certain sequence ( particularly the red light district near the beginning ) feel a though we be on some kind of dark ride and glide past a series of room contain all manner of curiosity . another very striking technique be to have a few of the character stare into the camera and generally a no no in all but documentary . the effect create a curious confrontation a the character stare impassively  watch u a we watch themthe music for satyricon be another fascinating element . though nino rota compose a substantial amount of the score ( particularly the oddly phrased melody heard at the end and the new emperor parade ) and a great deal of the music be either world folk music ( such a the balinese monkey chant ) or avant garde electronic composition ( ilhan mimaroglu and andrew rudin and and todd dockstader among others ) . this give the film a dual feeling of be very primal and yet otherworldly . on one level satryicon comment on the youth of the late 1960s and the unanchored hippy wonder from place to place without a moral compass one hedonistic adventure after another in a satiated and decadent world . on another level the world depict be a collective dream of which our civilization be puppet ed by primal force beneath the surface . in this way satyricon feel both foreign and recognizable and it image both seductive and repellent . one can admire fellini for tackle such an ambitious concept and it be due to he and his collaborator ( particularly danilo donati ) that this film achieve so much .