La Strada - Criterion Collection (1954)

Considered by many to be Federico Fellini's most beautiful and powerful film, La Strada was the first film to reveal the range of Guilietta Masina, whose poignant performance as the childlike Gelsomina recalls Chaplin's Little Tramp. The bubbly, waiflike Gelsomina is a simpleton sold to the gruff, bullying circus strongman Zampanò (Anthony Quinn) as a servant and assistant. Treated no better than an animal, Gelsomina nonetheless falls in love with the brute Zampanò. When they join a small circus they meet Il Matto (Richard Basehart), a clown who enchants Gelsomina and relentlessly taunts Zampanò, whose inability to control his hatred of Il Matto (literally, "the Fool") leads to their expulsion from the circus and eventually to the film's fateful conclusion. Masina is heartbreaking as the wide-eyed innocent, whose generous spirit and love of life leads her to try to "save" Quinn's unfeeling, brutal Zampanò. Though the film resonates with mythic and biblical dimensions, Fellini never loses sight of his characters, lovingly painted in all their frailties and failings. Fellini's lyrical style reaches back to the simple beauty of his neorealist films and looks ahead to the impressionistic fantasies of later films, but at this unique period in Fellini's career, they combine to create a poetic, tragic masterpiece. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com essential video

"What a funny face! Are you a woman, really? Or an artichoke?"

The face in question belongs to the enchanting Giulietta Masina. And the movie is LA STRADA (1954), director Federico Fellini's haunting tale about the strange relationship between an innocent young waif and the boorish circus performer who takes her under his wing.

LA STRADA ("The Road") is one of the watershed movies of Italian cinema, and also launched the international careers of director Federico Fellini and his actress wife Giulietta Masina in the process. Amongst many accolades, the movie walked away with the 1956 Academy Award for 'Best Foreign Language Film'.

The story is one of the most haunting, heartbreaking ones you'll ever encounter; it will remain in your soul long after the credits have rolled. A charming, somewhat backward waif named Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina) is plucked from her carefree family home on the seashore and placed into the employment of Zampano (Anthony Quinn), a vagabond circus strong-man. Complications arise when Zampano's old adversary, a highwire artist named 'The Fool' (Richard Basehart) returns to the scene. What follows will prove fateful for the trio...

The heartrending performance of Giulietta Masina is pure perfection. Every glance, facial expression, physical gesture shows us exactly what is happening inside the head and heart of this most magical, haunting screen character. The audience goes along for the same emotional ride that the character of Gelsomina does. Federico Fellini fashioned this film as a showcase for his talented wife. Acclaimed performances in "Nights of Cabiria" and "Juliet of the Spirits" would follow in later years, and while Masina was always superbly good in anything she did, LA STRADA was and forever will be her best ever screen performance.

Zampano is a totally unsavoury character and the audience is never meant to find any kind of sympathy toward him. The most challenging, thankless assignment for any actor is to play such a character, but Anthony Quinn delivers what he can given the limits of the material. Richard Basehart is a lovely presence as 'The Fool', one of the lone adult characters who actually seems to care for the neglected Gelsomina. The musical score by Nino Rota is likewise so very haunting, particularly "Gelsomina's Theme" which recurs throughout the second half of the film.

If you want a film which illustrates--so movingly--the sheer joy and heartbreak of simply being alive, you must see LA STRADA. I guarantee you'll never be the same... June 29, 2008

Thin, slow and boring...

Italian film with English Subtitles set in 1950's. A quirky young girl (Gelsomina) lives with her Mother and 4 siblings in poverty. She is sold by her Mother to a traveling strong man performer (Zampano). Zampano is a man of few words - he is cold, cruel, a brute, a womanizer and a hard drinker in his time off. He roughly trains Gelsomina to be is assistant and she learns how to play a drum and trumpet. She is small, delicate and "imp-like" spirit - seeing the beauty and optimism in all things. Along their journey they run into a Fool which teaches Gelsomina why she was brought to be with Zampano. Zampano ends up breaking Gelsomina's spirit and lives to regret it.

The movie is beautifully set with Italian oceans, vistas and city centers. Gelsomina is captivating in her role. However, I found the story to be slow and boring - and the characters to be shallow and underdeveloped. The film wasn't for me.

June 13, 2008

The Road of Life

She's simple and innocent. He's a cunning brute. He buys her from her own mother and turns her into his personal servant, mattress and partner. He's a strongman and her makes her bang a drum and play a clown. He acts like an animal and treats her like one. Everyone keeps asking why she won't leave him. She never says why. Such a simple story and so profound and moving, sad and touching. Fellini's first unqualified masterpiece explores ideas of lonliness, humanity and belonging. August 25, 2007

Brilliant and depressing

La Strada is ultimately a grim and downbeat tale, but the director Fellini makes you care about the characters involved. Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina) is forced to live and work with Zampano (Anthony Quinn), a circus strongman. She lives with Zampano in the back of a small motorcycle trailer, and the conditions are frankly squalid, as are most of the places where they work. 'The Fool' (Richard Basehart) is the fly in the ointment, who attempts to lure Gelsomina away from Zampino with tragic results.

La Strada and Fellini was a huge influence on a number of famous films. 'Godfather II' copies the religious street festival and the ending reminded me of 'The Swimmer'.

The film is in Italian with English subtitles available.
August 22, 2007

La Strada

Legendary Italian director Fellini's early experiences in a circus inspired many of his films, including the sublime "La Strada," one of his most poignant works. This is a melancholy, mythic tale about innocence and forbearance in the face of brute ignorance. Fellini's wife and frequent lead actress, Giulietta Masina, is revelatory as frail, childlike Gelsomina, and the heartbreaking strengths of "La Strada" lie squarely with her. June 26, 2007

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