There are few couples whose work together produces such beautiful work as Giulietta Masina and Federico Fellini, perhaps not the most glamorous of Hollywood's couples, but certainly a perfect match. Giulietta Masina began her career as a university student in Rome. She met Mr. Fellini, then a young screenwriter, while working as a radio actress in wartime Italy. After hearing her read a part he had written, Fellini called her for a lunch date. They married one year later, in 1943. Fellini died the day after their 50th wedding anniversary and his wife followed after succumbing to cancer only months later. Fellini's nickname for his Masina was "Lo Spippolo", meaning any small thing that inspires tenderness, and through his films, he translates that love and inspiration well.
La Strada was the movie that put Masina on the map, and it also picked up another Academy Award for Fellini. "La Strada" translates to "the road", and it really is a road movie. The strongman Zampano (Anthony Quinn) comes to a seaside village to purchase a second assistant from the impoverished woman who had already sold him her eldest daughter, Rosa, who died in his care. Though it breaks her heart, the woman accepts 10,000 lire in exchange for Gelsomina (Masina), a wide-eyed naif. He dresses her as a clown and teaches her to beat a drum and pass the hat before and during his pathetic act: breaking a chain with his chest. Though he abuses her both physically and sexually, Gelsomina is hurt most by Zampano's indifference to the wonders of the road that they encounter. Eventually Gelsomina runs away and encounters Il Matto (The Fool), a tightrope performer in a neighboring village. Wearing wings and bumblebee tights, he is obviously Zampano's ethereal opposite. The circus folk invite Gelsomina to join them, then Il Matto asks her to leave with him, but she stays behind to wait for Zampano. When trying to convince Gelsomina of her own self-worth, Il Matto says: "Everything in this world is good for something. Take ... this stone, for example," "What's it good for?" she asks. "I don't know ... but it certainly has its use. If it were useless, then everything would be useless -- even the stars." Gelsomina takes this bit of wisdom to mean that her place is with Zampano.
As Gelsomina, Giulietta Masina is literally dressed as a clown, in oversized shoes & pants with a baggy hat. Her performance inspired comparisons to Chaplin when first reviewed, and it's clear to see why, with that hat and those big, communicative eyes. It's Gelsomina's sad clown face that remains the film's most haunting image, vivid even in black and white. For Fellini, La Strada represents a cross-pollination of his noted tendencies toward both stark neorealism and symbolic expressionism, acting as a stepping stone towards his eponymous style that would later spawn his greatest works: 8 1/2 and Nights of Cabiria.
Then, three years later, came Fellini & Masina's greatest collaboration: Nights of Cabiria. The often overlooked masterpiece relates in a realistic yet serio-comic way the (mis)adventures of a Roman prostitute, who manages to remain optimistic despite an endless series of disheartening events. Cabiria is dumped, picked up, hidden, found, and dumped again, but the magic show scene about halfway into the film encapsulates a large number of themes as well as any cinematic segment I’ve seen.
La Strada was the movie that put Masina on the map, and it also picked up another Academy Award for Fellini. "La Strada" translates to "the road", and it really is a road movie. The strongman Zampano (Anthony Quinn) comes to a seaside village to purchase a second assistant from the impoverished woman who had already sold him her eldest daughter, Rosa, who died in his care. Though it breaks her heart, the woman accepts 10,000 lire in exchange for Gelsomina (Masina), a wide-eyed naif. He dresses her as a clown and teaches her to beat a drum and pass the hat before and during his pathetic act: breaking a chain with his chest. Though he abuses her both physically and sexually, Gelsomina is hurt most by Zampano's indifference to the wonders of the road that they encounter. Eventually Gelsomina runs away and encounters Il Matto (The Fool), a tightrope performer in a neighboring village. Wearing wings and bumblebee tights, he is obviously Zampano's ethereal opposite. The circus folk invite Gelsomina to join them, then Il Matto asks her to leave with him, but she stays behind to wait for Zampano. When trying to convince Gelsomina of her own self-worth, Il Matto says: "Everything in this world is good for something. Take ... this stone, for example," "What's it good for?" she asks. "I don't know ... but it certainly has its use. If it were useless, then everything would be useless -- even the stars." Gelsomina takes this bit of wisdom to mean that her place is with Zampano.
As Gelsomina, Giulietta Masina is literally dressed as a clown, in oversized shoes & pants with a baggy hat. Her performance inspired comparisons to Chaplin when first reviewed, and it's clear to see why, with that hat and those big, communicative eyes. It's Gelsomina's sad clown face that remains the film's most haunting image, vivid even in black and white. For Fellini, La Strada represents a cross-pollination of his noted tendencies toward both stark neorealism and symbolic expressionism, acting as a stepping stone towards his eponymous style that would later spawn his greatest works: 8 1/2 and Nights of Cabiria.
Then, three years later, came Fellini & Masina's greatest collaboration: Nights of Cabiria. The often overlooked masterpiece relates in a realistic yet serio-comic way the (mis)adventures of a Roman prostitute, who manages to remain optimistic despite an endless series of disheartening events. Cabiria is dumped, picked up, hidden, found, and dumped again, but the magic show scene about halfway into the film encapsulates a large number of themes as well as any cinematic segment I’ve seen.
After buckling under pressure from the audience, Cabiria joins the magician onstage, only to be bombarded by sadly accurate questions and judgments about the lifestyle she has worked so hard to keep private. Cabiria is hypnotized and unwittingly becomes an actress, performing a combination of make-believe, her past, and her dreams. The show symbolizes a crossroads for Cabiria’s relationships. Before it, she’s only known pure heartbreak- after all, the film opens with the poor girl being pushed into the water by a lover hoping to drown her. But afterwards, she is ready to accept someone into her life, letting down the guard she keeps up, even if it is only to relish the attention she gains. |
Fellini uses lighting and settings to mirror Cabiria's moods. As the title would suggest, most of the picture takes place in the evenings with the protagonist bathed in shadows, but during the more alluring and optimistic moments, we get a better glimpse of her face, allowing us to soak up her pure smile. Ironically, the final act (not including the nearly perfect final scene as Cabiria walks down the street accompanied by a musical troupe) takes place on a cliff at sunset, the precise median of light that peers right into her tortured soul, a shining sun, a bright sprit that will inevitably be engulfed by the coming darkness.
Together, they created beauty, exemplifying the symbiotic relationship all artists strive to find with their muses- one where their talents thrive and grow most when they are together. Both Masina and Fellini have been gone for twenty years now, but their shared legacy of brilliant movies lives on, and will for another twenty years, and another, and another...
Together, they created beauty, exemplifying the symbiotic relationship all artists strive to find with their muses- one where their talents thrive and grow most when they are together. Both Masina and Fellini have been gone for twenty years now, but their shared legacy of brilliant movies lives on, and will for another twenty years, and another, and another...