Rome Journal: Repeat Performance

Repeat Performance is a l947 film noir about a woman who gets to repeat a year again. It’s like Groundhog Day. That’s a little what Rome's like. The iconography is so strong and intractable that you’re instantaneously caught in a feeling of well-earned déjà vu. The art comes from distinguishing one past remembrance from the last while occasionally enjoying some overrides, which is to say, experiences that wipe out past prejudices created by the strong brew most visitors receive—and which in turn creates a seemingly impenetrable gauntlet of preconception. Everyone waxes about the beauty of Rome, but you may one day wake up and feel like you're trapped in an antiquity which is not just a street or piazza but more  a time warp that carries with it a welter of historical association. You can, for instance, literally go back to the spot where Caesar cried “Et Tu, Brut?,” the Largo di Torre Argentina. When you go to the Piazza Venetia with its famous wedding cake monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, it’s hard not to feel that history is following you around like one of the pickpockets you’re always warned to beware of. Rome is a like a colorful parent who’s left his or her imprint on you and who you both embrace and want to free yourself from, of course without having to throw the baby out with the bath water.