In 1914, a cruise ship sets sail from Naples to spread the ashes of beloved opera singer Edmea Tetua near Erimo, the isle of her birth. During the voyage, the eclectic array of passengers discovers a group of Serbian refugees aboard the vessel. Peace and camaraderie abound until the ship is descended upon by an Austrian flagship. The Serbians are forced to board it, but naturally they resist, igniting a skirmish that ends in destruction.
[The film] is to most movies what the Folies-Bergere was to the theater, a celebration of spectacle, even when it exists only for its own sake.
– Vincent Canby,
New York Times,
20 May 2003
rotten:
Obviously, it isn't the intellectual content that's meant to carry the picture, but even Fellini's elaborate visuals seem timid and uninspired this time around.