La Strada (1954)
"La strada" (original title)

A carefree girl is sold to a traveling entertainer, consequently enduring physical and emotional pain along the way.

Director:

Federico Fellini

Writers:

Federico Fellini (story), Tullio Pinelli (story),

Stars:

Anthony Quinn, Giulietta Masina, Richard Basehart

Top 250 #197 | Won 1 Oscar. Another 10 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Anthony Quinn	...	Zampanò
Giulietta Masina	...	Gelsomina
Richard Basehart	...	Il Matto - The Fool
Aldo Silvani	...	Signor Giraffa
Marcella Rovere	...	La Vedova
Livia Venturini	...	La Suorina

Storyline

Sad story of a waif, Gelsomina, who is sold by her mother to Zampano for 10,000 lire and a few kilos of food. Zampano is a traveling showman who exhibits feats of strength by breaking a chain wrapped around his chest. He performs in village squares and then passes the hat for whatever the normally small crowd is prepared to give. He teaches Gelsomina a drum roll as part of his introduction. He doesn't treat her well and when she tries to run away, he beats her. They eventually join a small traveling circus where they meet Il Matto but a disagreement leads to tragedy. Zampano eventually abandons the girl and it's only many years later that he learns of her fate.

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Plot Keywords:

tragedy | traveling circus | strongman | circus | on the road | 

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Taglines:

You've been hearing about a great picture called La Strada (The Road)...now it is here!

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

16 July 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

La Strada

Filming Locations:

Bagnoregio, Viterbo, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ponti-De Laurentiis Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Anthony Quinn said in an interview a few years before his death that he originally accepted a deal that would have paid him a percentage of the profits this film generated instead of an upfront salary. When his agent found out about it, the agent changed the deal and insisted an upfront salary and no percentage. Quinn said that decision cost him several million dollars.

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Goofs

At the wedding, the size and color of the dot on Gelsomina's nose appears to change between the times when she is taken to Oswaldo and when she is fed.

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Quotes

Zampanò: [reciting his act by rote before a crowd] Here we have a piece of chain that is a quarter of an inch thick. It is made of crude iron, stronger than steel. With the simple expansion of my pectoral muscles, or chest, that is, I'll break the hook.
[collecting money from the crowd]
Zampanò: Thank you, thank you. Now, to do this feat, I must fill myself up like a tire. If a blood vessel should break, I would spit blood. For instance, in Milan a man weighing 240 pounds lost his eyesight doing this trick. That ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Claude Jutra - An Unfinished Story aka: Claude Jutra, portrait sur film (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Zampano"
(1954) (uncredited)
Music by Nino Rota and Michele Galdieri
Published by Leeds

User Reviews

Often Sad, Sometimes Surreal, Always Human

Fellini's "La Strada" is memorable, atmospheric, entertaining, thoughtful, and many other things. It is often sad, not even so much because of the things that happen, but simply for what it reveals about the human condition. It is sometimes surreal, not in a bizarre visual sense, but in the unexpected combinations of emotions that it sometimes evokes. And it is always human, commenting on individuals and humanity as a whole with a keen eye and with cinematic skill.

The three main characters make an odd and interesting mix of personalities. Anthony Quinn gives plenty of life to Zampano, who is hard to like, but hard not to have compassion for. Fellini's repeated filmings of Zampano's chain act bring out the pitiable side of his character even more so than the dramatic scenes do.

Giulietta Masina gives a rather stylized performance as Gelsomina, at times bearing a surprising resemblance to comics such as Harpo Marx or even Harry Langdon. Yet she is completely engaging and sympathetic, and she creates a memorable character. Richard Basehart likewise manages to make The 'Fool' an idiosyncratic, rather annoying, but again sympathetic character.

Fellini's approach, of course, adds much to the characters and to the story. Some of the vignettes, such as the wedding banquet sequence and the convent sequence, would stand up very well on their own with just a minimum of outside context. The camera is often used in subtle ways to bring out the symbolism or significance of the scene.

Nino Rota's music is also an essential part of making "La Strada" what it is, at times establishing an atmosphere all by itself. (And, while it is completely extraneous to an appreciation of "La Strada", there are moments when it is hard not to be reminded of Rota's score for "The Godfather".) Probably the only real weakness of the movie is the dubbing, which is too noticeable not to become distracting at times.

Finally, the movie is a worthy classic not least because Fellini, his cast, and his crew all work together to turn the lives of some very ordinary human beings into a worthwhile and sympathetic look at humanity.