MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, we give this film a: Stars: Marcello Mastroianni Director: Anna Maria Tato Rated: Not rated. In Italian with subtitles. Length: 190 min.

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Mike Clark
Gannett News Sevice

(Nov. 11, 1999) -- For an international sex symbol, Marcello Mastroianni was really a character actor who was happy to make himself look unkempt or worn down through an array of glasses, beards and hairpieces. In this 200-minute documentary by his longtime companion, Anna Maria Tato, we get face after face after face of Mar-chell-o (as frequent co-star Sophia Loren would say), and the cumulative effect is exhausting.

Not so Mastroianni himself, who is thoroughly charming here in cars, at seaside, in hotel rooms and at a 72nd birthday celebration three months before his death. He talks about everything: Federico Fellini, the capriciousness of awards, his one-time architectural aspirations, the cities he loves (Naples is a biggie), the bad movies that at least allowed him to travel the world -- everything except, significantly, his love affairs.

One very amusing anecdote concerns his visit to Martin Scorsese's apartment, whose walls were covered in Italian movie posters. Mastroianni didn't recognize the one for his own "Divorce -- Italian Style," perhaps because it was the Polish edition. Never let it be said that Marty takes the easy road.

Where most movie-icon overviews truncate their selection of film clips, "Remember" lets the archival footage roll on and on, swelling the running time to a ridiculous extreme. Worse, the film doesn't identify which movies the clips are from, which is an irritant, considering that most had limited runs or didn't reach U.S. shores at all except in scattered festivals. You'll spend much of your time playing guessing games -- though it's probably safe to assume that the clip with Mastroianni in a gray wig, facial rouge and fey manner is from "Casanova '70."