As for the plot, Fellini saved little. He left two young guys who loved each other, but all lines are mixed and messed. Fellini just wanted to depict the social picture of some period (either ancient or modern it is hard to say). For example the feast at Trimalchio's house he shows us in all the details and it last for a long time. Some scenes are difficult to understant at all even to me who knows the original version (I mean Petronius'). The episodes are not connected with each other, we cannot say why this or that character have done something. Their actions sometimes look out of logic. Some characters disappear then suddenly appear again and we cannot say how or why. Maybe Fellini really wanted to do a satire but I didn't feel this. The plot is too absurd and it is no point to tell it. Partly it is due to the actors' performance. For example the faces chosen by the director express lust, greed and other vulgar feelings perfectly. In general Fellini adores mass scenes - he's rather good at them (though to my mind he indulges in them a little too long) but is an absolute failure in depicting feelings and passions of a lonely man. It is an individual peculiarity because other Italian directors can do it perfectly. And what is also bad in Fellini's films is that he tends to moralize and this can spoil even a good film. But this picture has too many flaws to like it.
