La Strada

For all my efforts trying to watch as many movies as I can, I can't help it that some slip through the cracks.  Stars, genres, directors, some of each.  Just because I'm not familiar with a name/movie doesn't mean I'm not aware of them. For example, I recognize Italian director Federico Fellini and could name two or three of his movies. But other than that he was a highly influential director with a unique movie-making style, I know little to nothing about him.

The one Fellini movie I'd seen until recently was 8 1/2 which was supposed to be weird, different, and existential, dreamlike in its execution.  It was just too much for me, and I was never able to get into the movie.  It is definitely a movie I would revisit only because it's so universally acclaimed I feel like I missed out on something.  Never one to completely shut down on a director, I gave Fellini's 1954 movie La Strada a chance this weekend, and I ended up liking it if nothing being blown away by it. You've got to start somewhere, right?

The oldest daughter of a single mother trying to raise a family of four kids, Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina) has always been a little different from other people, but no one knows why. In an effort to help her family, her mother sells the teenage girl to Zampano (Anthony Quinn), a traveling performer who moves from town to town performing his act. Very naive, very innocent Gelsomina is thrust into a world she just can't comprehend, growing up quicker than she ever anticipated.  Zampano looks out for her at times but generally treats her poorly. She doesn't know any way out of the situation, even when she meets a fellow circus performer, the Fool (Richard Basehart), who could possibly be an outlet for her, an escape from this prison of a life she finds herself in.

I've made no bones about my preference for movies that are more realistic and therefore more downbeat and generally cynical.  But of all the movies I've seen, this is one of the darkest.  This is a world without much hope in it, especially for the innocent (is she mentally handicapped in some way? The story hints at it subtly) Gelsomina.  It is a dog eat dog world where anyone and everyone will turn on you if it possibly helps them.  If anything, it's even too dark for a cynical moviegoer like me. With a few exceptions, there always has to be hope in the end, something positive to strive for however slim.  There's none of that here, Fellini's movie's outlook on life and survival getting dimmer and dimmer with each passing minute as the climax approaches.

Not too complain about subtitles because I don't mind reading and watching a movie, but the dubbing distracted me from the performances. Always a very physical, verbose actor, Quinn lives up to his reputation, delivering a fiery part as Zampano, a character that's hard to judge. But with his very distinct voice, it's off-putting when you hear someone else's voice come out of that mouth. The same goes for Basehart, which by the way, how did the very American-looking Basehart end up playing an Italian circus performer? Somebody explain that to me.

Three performances dominate the movie for better or worse.  Quinn never disappoints, and he certainly doesn't here.  Never afraid to play an unlikable character, he plays maybe his most despicable character in a long career. There is nothing redeeming about his Zampano, and a shady past is hinted at often.  Gelsomina's sister was sold to him the year before but died. What happened to her? Most likely he just abandoned her somewhere.  Basehart is more hit or miss, the existential link to the story, a fool, a circus performer who wonders aloud about life and its meaning, what everyone's purpose truly is.  He is a talented actor, no doubt about it, but even just being there he feels out of place.

The brightest spot here is Masina as Gelsomina.  By no means a classical beauty, she brings something different to this very tragic character.  From the moment she is introduced, you just know she's doomed in one way or another.  Fitting well with Fellini's very visual style, Masina says so much with her eyes (maybe the saddest eyes I've seen in a movie ever), not wasting time with long passages of dialogue. It is so easy to feel bad for this character because you're rooting for her. You want her to escape, to live her life, to go back to that convent that seemed to appeal to her.  But in this incredibly dark world of Fellini, life doesn't always end up so rosy. One of the darker movies I've come across, and not necessarily for the better.

La Strada <---TCM clips (1954): ** 1/2 /****