GRADE: 9.5
Having renounced her ignominious past, a former streetwalker reunites with her son. However, an extortion scheme endangers her aspirations for a decent bourgeois life. Can she protect him from the same snares that wounded her youth?
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Country of Origin: Italy
THOUGHTS:
A knockout, straight out of the gate. Anna Magnani is a force, and from the very first scene she’s dizzyingly funny, tragic and utterly magnetic. Superb cinematography, particularly in the scenes where Mamma Roma carries on conversations with random street walkers at night. The story and script feel tough and uncompromising.