Ecclesiastical Fashion Show From Fellini's Roma.

Roma, 1972.

I love everything, everything about this. I can't stop watching this clip. The Nino Rota music is so cool and the over the top yet humorous staging is all at once enchanting, terrifying, and completely removed from reality. Plus rollerskating clergy!

It's the Etruscan She-Wolf! Before Romulus and Remus were added.

At the upscale brothel. I love this outfit. 

What a great inspiration for costuming and drama and of course, our upcoming Odyssey through Italy and Greece. Pre-travels we are supplementing our study of Italian language with some classic films, especially ones that we haven't seen. Alex recommended Roma, but I wasn't too interested until I saw a few later scenes such as the above and also the part where they discover ancient frescos while working on Rome's underground system. A drill crashes through a hollow wall and the oxygen streaming in destroys every painted surface in a matter of seconds. That scene broke my heart. I always get into a panic when artwork is in jeopardy. Once we watched Ararat, which I wanted to see because it centers on Armenian artist Arshile Gorky (of course, the art subplot was just a vehicle for a Genocide film). But in Atom Egoyan's film, one of the Gorky paintings gets knifed in a museum. I had to cover my eyes in anger and despair. There is also some footage of the medieval Armenian churches, especially Aghtamar in Lake Van. The church is on an island now ruled by Turkey. Standing before Mount Ararat, site of the great Noah's ark, this church has the most incredible (and the oldest) exterior reliefs.

Aghtamar, Church of the Holy Cross, 10th century. Palantine church of Vaspurakan king, Gagik I.