Although this is clearly not one of Fellini's best rated movies, "Satyricon" is a fantastic modern science-fiction drama that is certainly worth seeing. It is true that the story lacks a red line, a plot that clearly interconnects each scene or scenario. However, if one watches it carefully enough and with an open mind, there is a story-line and character development in it. It is the life passage of a young man (Encolpius) and his friend and antagonist (Ascyltus), former gladiators who were taken to a foreign island and undergo diverse colorful, partly erotic adventures in dream-like sequences and images. You will find action in each scene but, more than that, Fellini is probably the only director who has managed, with this film, to create an understanding of what life in ancient Rome MAY have been like for the lower and middle-class ordinary civilians. Far from the bombastic installations as we know them from DeMille's monumental films, this is an abstract piece of art that deserves to be called a masterpiece that leaves room for interpretation and speculation about Petronius' ancient novel.
Review of Fellini Satyricon
