Nights of Cabiria

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 6/12/09 w/ Additional Edits.

Directed by Federico Fellini with a script by Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano, and Pier Paolo Pasolini based on an original story by Maria Molinari. Le notti di Cabiria (Nights of Cabiria) tells the story of a prostitute working at the seedy Ostia section of Rome who searches for love but fails as she is taken advantage and such. When she meets and fall for a man of respectability, things seem to be promising until she becomes humiliated in a series of events. Starring Fellini's wife Giulietta Masina, Francois Perier, Franca Marzi, Dorian Gray, Aldo Silvani, and Ennio Girolami. Le notti di Cabiria is a whimsical, charming, and heartbreaking masterpiece from Federico Fellini.

After being pushed into a river and having her pursed stolen where she nearly drowned, Cabiria (Giuletta Masina) is upset that her lover Giorgio (Franco Fabrizi) has left with her purse leaving her with nothing. After being saved from drowning by boys and fellow locals, she is still angry that another man has taken advantage of her where a fellow prostitute name Wanda (Franca Marzi) warns her not to get too attached. After burning Giorgio's things, Cabiria goes to work as a prostitute where along with Wanda and a friend and their pimp Amleto (Ennio Girolami). She gets into a fight with a rival while going into the city with a couple of friends to go into the rivaling section that included richer, better-looking prostitutes. Walking outside of a posh apartment, she sees a famous actor named Alberto Lazzari (Amedeo Nazarri) who was having an argument with his girlfriend Jessie (Dorian Gray). Upset and wanting to go out, he takes Cabiria to a club and later, to his home where she gets an autograph and almost ate dinner with him until Jessie returns where Cabiria was sneaked to sleep in his bathroom.

The next night, Cabiria goes on assignment again where waiting at the corner with Wanda, Amleto, and Amleto's crippled uncle (Mario Passante). They encounter a group of churchgoers walking barefoot as Cabiria is picked up by a truck driver. Lost in a cavern area, she meets a generous man giving food and things away to homeless people where she starts to question her own life. After attending a church service with friends as they are among a group of desperate people wanting a miracle from the Madonna. For Cabiria, it becomes a frustrating experience feeling nothing has changed where she finds herself at a vaudeville stage where a magician (Aldo Silvani) performs some tricks. After hypnotizing her for a trick where it is believed she will meet a man named Oscar, she finds herself confused.

After the performance, she bumps into an accountant named D'Onofrio (Francois Perier) who is charmed by what she saw. Revealing his first name to be Oscar, Cabiria isn't sure if he can be trustful but after a few dates. He seems to be the man for her where she suddenly finds herself engaged. With the prospect of a bright future, Cabiria seems to get her miracle until old feelings of being hurt again are unveiled.

The film is essentially the story of a naive yet feisty woman seeking a change for her life following a series of humiliating moments. Really, it's a character-driven film that allows the character of Cabiria to go into a series of adventures and mis-adventures that would allow her to want to make some changes. What Fellini and his co-writers create is a film that is a bit of an adventure but of a human kind. The character of Cabiria is truly complex since on the outside, she's a woman who is brash, arrogant, and willing to be playful. Yet, she is also vulnerable, not willing to listen to reason, and somewhat of a dreamer.

The development of character and the structure of the story clearly sets up scenarios for Cabiria. The first act follows Cabiria from the opening scene where she's pushed to a river where she nearly drowned to her meeting with a famous film actor. The second act is about the moment she meets a mysterious man giving away food and things to her own spiritual crisis following a Catholic ceremony that leaves her disillusioned. The third act is about Cabiria's encounter with a magician and her meeting with Oscar D'Onofrio. Despite all of these traumas, all of the humiliation, and all of the struggles she faces. She picks herself up and keeps on walking. All of these events and encounters would help shape the development of Cabiria that is filled with stylish, playful dialogue from co-writer Pier Paolo Pasolini.

Fellini's direction is truly mesmerizing from its striking compositions of scenes in and out of Rome to the emotional shots he creates for some of the film's dramatic moments. Fellini's camera is truly engaging in the exterior, ruined locations of the poor sections of Rome to the richer, chaotic, crowded world of downtown Rome as it shows a contrast of the different worlds that Cabiria lives in. Yet, there's something lavish and stylized in the scenes Fellini creates as he invites the audience into some parties or some kind of event that is truly powerful. Even the church service scene that has a group of people desperate for the power of Madonna hoping for some kind of miracle. The camera is amongst the crowd while the hypnotizing scene where Cabiria dances and such on a hypnotic state has something beautiful. The zoom shots and close-ups are done with such subtle emotion, even the final shot of the film as it's clear that Fellini is becoming more engaging in his direction and capturing the soul of its characters. The result is a film that shows Fellini starting to find his style as a director.

Cinematographer Aldo Tonti does some spectacular work with the film's black-and-white shots to complement the contrasting worlds that Cabiria ventures. From the bright, wide shots of the place and area that Cabiria lives to the crowded look of Rome. The exterior daytime photography is very bright and colorful while a lot of the nighttime exteriors is very beautiful with some great shading and compositions that are truly rich. The interior shots of the club and house that Cabiria goes to with the actor is also enchanting in its bright look and gorgeous shading for the nighttime scene in the actor's bathroom. Editor Leo Cattozzo does some fantastic work with the film's straightforward edits with wonderful transition cuts with the use of dissolves and fade-outs to help structure the story in its scene and acts.

Production/costume designer Piero Gherardi does great work in the look of the home of the actor, Cabiria's house, and most of all. The church filled with lots of Catholic images including a statue of the Madonna. Gherardi's work in the costume is wonderful with the clothes and look for Cabiria along with the stylized look for her friends including more posh looks from the actor, his girlfriend, and Oscar. The sound work of Oscar Di Santo and Roy Mangano is excellent for capturing the chaotic atmosphere of Rome, the hollow sounds of the corner Cabiria works at, and the raucous world of the church. One of the film's great technical achievements is its whimsical, playful score by Nino Rota, a key collaborator of Fellini's. Rota's score is filled with arrangements that play with various emotions whether it's a rumba sound or upbeat for Cabiria's mood or something sad with more melancholic pieces led by the piano and strings. Rota's score is truly mesmerizing with pieces that are memorable.

The cast is phenomenal with some memorable small roles from Maria Luisa Rolando and Loretta Capitoli as a couple of prostitutes while Franco Fabrizi is good as the man who pushed Cabiria into a river. Other small roles with appearances from Dorian Gray as the moody girlfriend of actor Alberto Lazzari, Amedeo Nazarri as the charming but bored Alberto Lazzari, Ennio Girolami as Cabiria's pimp Amleto, Mario Passante as Amleto's crippled uncle, and as the magician, Aldo Silvani. In the role of Cabiria's fellow prostitute and friend Wanda, Franca Marzi is great as the big yet realistic woman who helps Cabiria in every thing that happens while being the supportive friend. In the role of Oscar, Francois Perier is excellent as the charming man who offers kindness while being the guy who seems likes the perfect man and such.

Finally, there's Giuletta Masina in what is truly one of cinema's most dazzling performances as Cabiria. Masina's performance is full of such complex emotions as when she's up, she is a person full of life. Can do things very spontaneously while in dances, she moves to the beat of her own drum. When she's down, she's dramatic and angry where she'll get into fights or be extremely emotional. It's a tour-de-force performance from the wife of Federico Fellini who is clearly the heart and soul of the film as her performance is truly one of a kind.

Le notti di Cabiria is a whimsical yet character-driven film from Federico Fellini thanks in parts to the wonderful, engaging performance of Giuletta Masina. Audiences new to Fellini will see this as a nice place to start while it is considered essential in both Fellini's great film library as well as one of the most beloved films of European cinema. With a great film score by Nino Rota and wonderful images, it's a film that is truly entertaining while featuring a protagonist who has a spirit that is truly mesmerizing. In the end, Le notti di Cabiria is a brilliant yet heart-wrenching film from Federico Fellini.

Federico Fellini Films: (Variety Lights) - The White Sheik - (L'amore in Citta-Un'agenzia matrimoniale) - I, Vitelloni - La Strada - Il bidone - La Dolce Vita - (Boccaccio '70-Le tentazioni del Dottor Antonio) - 8 1/2 - Juliet of the Spirits - Histoires extraordinaires-Toby Dammmit - (Fellini: A Director's Notebook) - Fellini Satyricon - (I Clowns) - Roma - Amarcord - Casanova - Orchestra Rehearsal - City of Women - And the Ship Sails On - Ginger and Fred - (Intervista) - (The Voice of the Moon)

© thevoid99 2012

La Strada

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 8/4/07 w/ Additional Edits.

Directed by Federico Fellini with a script he co-wrote with Ennio Flaiano and Tullio Pinelli, La Strada (The Road) centers around a marriage that isn't going well while the wife falls for a clown who reveals there's more to life. Exploring the dynamics of marriage and heartbreak, the film shows Fellini’s sense of realism while exploring the behaviors of its protagonists. Starring Anthony Quinn, Guiletta Masina, Richard Basehart, Aldo Silvani, Marcella Rovere, and Livia Venturini. La Strada is a heartbreaking, charming, delightful film from Fellini.

After the death of her daughter Rosa, a poor widow (Marcella Rovere) decides to sell her clownish, shy adult daughter Gelsomina (Guiletta Masina) to a brutish circus performer named Zampano (Anthony Quinn). The new couple go on a road trip in a wagon pulled by Zampano's motorcycle where he’s a performer who wears a steel chain on his chest where the trick was to break it with his strength. Gelsomina reluctantly becomes his assistant while performing clown tricks for him. Though she likes the job, she feels unappreciated by Zampano who often abuses her physically and emotionally. After a performance, Zampano runs off with a red-headed woman leaving Gelsomina behind to wait as she later finds him passed out.

Walking out to a town where she encounters a Catholic ceremony, she catches the eye of a high-wire performer who is also a clown of sorts known as The Fool (Richard Basehart). After the performance and everything, she is left alone in the town until being caught by Zampano. The trip continues where they finally meet a circus organizer named Mr. Giraffe (Aldo Silvani) who takes them on. Unfortunately, the Fool is part of the circus family who constantly teases and humiliates Zampano. After a scuffle that led to Zampano's arrest and the expulsion of him and the Fool. Gelsomina isn't sure where to go and what to do where the Fool tells her his perspective on life on what she should do.

Waiting for Zampano to return, they continue on their road trip where they pick up a nun (Livia Venturini) to stay a convent. Gelsomina's talents are praised by the nun but Zampano doesn't feel impress nor excited. The abuse continues as Gelsomina is again, offered to leave Zampano by the nuns. On the road again, they have an encounter that would turn tragic as the fragile relationship between Zampano and Gelsomina reaches a breaking point.

The film is about character and how they grow through this experience in a road trip. While the film echoes some of the neorealism films in post-WWII Italy, Fellini brings a more comical touch to his work. Even through his knowledge of the world of circus performers. Through the various locations in Italy, the film does act like a road movie but it's more than that. It's really about a woman who is succumb to act like a servant only to find a new role in the life of this brutish, abusive man who doesn't know much about love or compassion. The character of Zampano is seen as this abusive, macho, unintelligent man. Yet, he's someone who has to break chains for a living while never given a life to think about things or other people. When he and Gelsomina encounter tragedy, a change of his character occurs yet he doesn't know how to deal with this.

Gelsomina is another character who goes through her own development as this shy, clownish woman who is trying to find her own usefulness. Yet, despite the abuse she endures and the time she walks out, she has this strange loyalty to Zampano. Even as people tell her to leave, she doesn’t because she hopes to find something good beneath his macho exterior. Yet, when she like Zampano encounters tragedy. She's unsure how to cope with everything and how to react to what Zampano is feeling. It is a film about character development. Even through Fellini's surreal, circus-like direction, it has images and compositions that remain unforgettable right to the final frame. Fellini can capture a moment of humor and extravagance while also showing heartbreak through the close-ups and zoom lenses through his camera. Overall, it's one of his best films and some of his finest set-ups in his direction.

Cinematographers Otello Martelli and Carlo Carlini bring a wonderfully, fascinating look in their black-and-white photography. The rich locations captured through the camera is just filled with beauty while some of the night exterior scenes are wonderfully lit to convey the emotions and moments of the main characters. Editor Leo Cattozzo brings a stylistic yet elliptical approach to the film's pacing to convey the movement and feel of the road while using fade-outs and dissolve to shift scenes of where the characters are. Production designer Mario Ravasco and art directors Enrico Cervelli and Brunello Rondi create a wonderful look to the film's circus settings as well as the motorcycle-wagon that Zampano rides on. Costume designer Margherita Marinari does wonder with the costumes from the poor, drab look that Zampano has including the costumes that are poor to a suit he wears that almost makes him look like a movie star. Sound recordist R. Boggio and sound mixer Aldo Capini create a wonderful atmosphere to capture the location and scenes the characters are in.

Then there's the amazing, lyrical score of the late Nino Rota. The score is melancholic and dreamy while a trumpet that Gelsomina plays is wonderfully memorable with its melody and performance. Rota, who is one of Fellini's key collaborators, is a wonder in this film as the music that often ranges from circus-like comedy to elegant tragedy that plays to the film’s emotions. It's one of the film's great highlights.

While the film has a small cast, it's filled with some memorable performances such as Aldo Silvani and Livia Venturini as two people who reach out to Gelsomina in the abuse she's suffering. Marcella Rovere is also good as Gelsomina's widowed mother who is begging Zampano to take Gelsomina as his new bride. Richard Basehart gives a charming yet comical performance as the Fool, a sympathetic figure who tries to help out Gelsomina.

The film’s best performance is easily Guiletta Masina, the real-life wife of Fellini, who brings a very touching yet intoxicating performance as an abused woman. Masina's physical performance is just as impressive with the faces she makes that is sad yet clownish while bringing a lot of spirit to the film. Anthony Quinn is also great as the brutish, abusive Zampano with his physical presence and the restraint he gives in letting out his emotions. When his character faces tragedy, Quinn shows the complexity of Zampano in how he's trying to react to things where Quinn proves that he’s more than just a character actor. Someone who is trying to feel remorse and what happens in the end is just Quinn at his finest.

While the film doesn't have some of the ambitions of works like La Dolce Vita or 8 1/2, La Strada is still a heartbreaking yet charming film by Federico Fellini. Fans will no doubt consider this one of his essential films while newcomers will use this as a nice place to start. In the end, La Strada is a must-see film from the late, great Federico Fellini.

Federico Fellini Films: (Variety Lights) - The White Sheik - I, Vitelloni - (L'amore in Citta-Un'agenzia martimoniale) - Il bidone - Nights of Cabiria - La Dolce Vita - (Boccaccio '70-Le tentazioni del Dottor Antonio) - 8 1/2 - Juliet of the Spirits - Histoires Extraordinaire-Toby Dammit - (Fellini: A Director's Notebook) - Fellini Satyricon - (I Clowns) - Roma - Amarcord - Casanova - Orchestra Rehearsal - City of Women - And the Ship Sails On - Ginger and Fred - (Intervista) - (The Vocie of the Moon)

© thevoid99 2012