By Giulia Piceni. Cover image: Anja Stroka for I’M Firenze Digest.

When the new Valentino campaign was unveiled, it became immediately clear that its narrative was centred around the city most cherished by the new creative director, Alessandro Michele: Rome. The words that accompany the campaign’s soundtrack are far from coincidental; they are a direct quote from Federico Fellini’s Roma (1972). 

4 Films to Explore Rome Through Alessandro Michele’s Eyes

It’s nighttime, and amidst the streets of Rome, just outside an aristocratic palazzo, a woman enters the scene. It’s the renowned actress Anna Magnani. Fellini, serving as the omniscient narrator of the film, attempts to strike up a conversation, but she, with her distinctive Roman accent, playfully dismisses him: “A Fedrì, ma vatte a dormì, va” (“Oh Federico, just go to bed already”).

Anna Magnani was a leading figure in Italian neorealism, known for her strong embodiment of Roman identity. She starred in significant cinematic works, including Roma città aperta (1945), directed by Rossellini and Mamma Roma (1962) by Pasolini. For Alessandro Michele, choosing her as a reference for this new campaign is a bold statement that emphasises his deep connection to the city and aligns with both the brand’s heritage and his personal affection for Rome.

Exploring Valentino’s Vision Through Film

The references I’ve just mentioned may seem somewhat obscure to many, as they belong to the realm of Italian cinematic heritage. In this article, we recommend a selection of films that will help unravel Valentino’s new vision while also offering a deeper exploration of Rome itself, described by Fellini as “lupa e vestale, aristocratica e stracciona, tetra e buffonesca” (a she-wolf and a vestal virgin, aristocratic and ragged, sombre and humorous).

Bad Tales (Favolacce), 2020 by Fratelli D’Innocenzo

Alessandro Michele’s creations are always imbued with a deep sense of unease. They exist in a liminal space that spans various historical eras, defying confinement to a single decade or atmosphere. Instead, his designs reflect countless nostalgic elements. ‘Eerie’ is the perfect word to capture the essence of his work, while ‘unsettling’ aptly describes the haunting atmospheres he so masterfully evokes.
The closing credits of the film Favolacce feature the same soundtrack as Michele’s debut runway show at Valentino. However, in the latter, the lyrics were changed, replacing the word ‘morire’ (to die) with ‘gioire’ (to rejoice). This film by the D’Innocenzo brothers is a hidden gem in contemporary Italian cinema. Set in the suburbs of Rome, in the Spinaceto district, it follows the daily life of lower-middle-class families. From the opening scenes, it becomes evident that something is off with the children, who are the central characters. Beneath their silence and apparent passivity towards their oppressive, disillusioned parents, lies a simmering, repressed anger that ultimately manifests in a collective act of self-destruction.

With its destabilising close-ups and deliberate slow pacing, the film reflects the same sense of instability leading up to the children’s plan. This tense atmosphere, where the uncanny blends with morbidity, perfectly complements the aesthetic of Michele’s fashion.

2. Nostalghia, 1983 by Andrej Tarkovskij

With its vintage allure, the sense of nostalgia is undoubtedly one of the key themes in Alessandro Michele’s artistic production. A fitting figure to explore this theme is the Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky. Although only part of his masterpiece Nostalghia was filmed in Rome, the scenes featuring the Eternal City are essential to the narrative.
Andrei Gorchakov, a Russian poet, travels to Italy to write a biography of a fellow countryman, a composer. With the help of his interpreter, Eugenia, he meets Domenico, a man living in Bagno Vignoni who is widely regarded as insane. Years before, Domenico had locked himself and his family in their home, convinced that the end of the world was near. Intrigued by Domenico’s story, Gorchakov visits him, and the enigmatic madman entrusts him with a task: to carry a lit candle across the town’s thermal pool. This ritual ultimately leads to Gorchakov’s death.
Domenico then travels to Rome, where he delivers a monologue in Piazza del Campidoglio. He attempts to engage the crowd, which consists of individuals with physical and mental challenges—a group he refers to as “the mad ones”, with whom he identifies. He addresses critical issues such as mental health, ecology, and the widespread sense of alienation. His speech alternates between authoritative statements and fragmented sentences, ultimately leaving the audience indifferent and unmoved. The climax occurs when Domenico stands atop the statue of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius and sets himself on fire. This deliberate act of sacrifice is accompanied by Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, a fitting soundtrack for such a heroic gesture. Yet, as the music fades, the only sound that remains is his agonised screams: a man engulfed in flames, suffering, gasping, and ultimately succumbing to death.

3. The Great Beauty, 2013 by Paolo Sorrentino

If you look closely, in Valentino’s advertising campaign, bishops and cardinals are seen alongside spoiled Roman beauties. They gather at the dinner table, ready to enhance the evening with biblical quotations, or they add a touch of surreal normality as they glide through the corridors of ancient palazzos on rollerblades.
This combination of high and low culture is reminiscent of the themes explored in The Great Beauty by Sorrentino. When the director accepted the Oscar in 2013, he blended these same high and low cultural references in his acceptance speech to the Academy, as he stated: “Thank you to my sources of inspiration: Federico Fellini, The Talking Heads, Martin Scorsese and Diego Armando Maradona. Thank you to Roma and Napoli.”
In The Great Beauty, we follow the story of Jep Gambardella, a man nearing the end of his life who reflects on his existence as a man devoted to high society. Jep has spent his life chasing an abstract ideal of beauty, but now, feeling nihilistic about life, he realises how unattainable it truly is. He comes to see that he has wasted his life pursuing an impossible ideal. Set in a decadent and superficial Rome, the film reveals the characters’ dramatic inconsistencies as their masks slip away. Themes of alienation and spirituality emerge as central themes, taking shape through the charm of the city’s streets.

4. L’eclisse (1961) by Michelangelo Antonioni

L’eclisse, the final chapter of the Trilogy of Incommunicability, is a classic where every frame is a work of art. Its slow pace and pervasive sense of boredom reflect the rising bourgeoisie of the 1960s. This masterpiece by Antonioni seeks to reveal the human condition through investigative silences, suspended between emptiness and anticipation.
Vittoria, played by Monica Vitti, is a young woman who, seemingly overwhelmed by a sudden wave of indifference, abruptly leaves her partner, Riccardo, declaring that she no longer loves him. She later meets Piero, a stockbroker portrayed by Alain Delon. The two begin a love affair that seems promising, until one morning, as they part ways, Piero reminds her of their usual evening appointment: “At 8. Same place.” These are the last words they exchange that day, leaving an air of uncertainty about whether they will ever meet again. Their fleeting happiness ends so abruptly and unpredictably that it never even has the chance to become boring. 
In the film’s final ten minutes, Antonioni continues his visual poetry by stripping the frames of the human presence that once filled them with passion. The camera glides through the deserted suburbs of Rome and the stark, geometric architecture of the EUR district, bathed in static, metaphysical silences that evoke De Chirico’s pictorial style.