La Strada (The Criterion Collection)

Classic film. Exquisite film with a fable-like story about being aware of what we have in life and not to take things for granted. Simple enough moral and yet poignantly played out in this film with every neorealistic angle available. A film to watch over and over. ***note: For some reason the sound cuts out early in the film. The copy I had from the library did the same thing. I read that it's just the way it is and nothing can be done. Read the subtitles for a minute or two, no problem.

What can you say? One of the truly great movies. Amazing in its simplicity, shot beautifully in B&W in post WWII Italy, the poverty, the people’s finding joy and tragedy in their simple life is uplifting. The tragedy of Zampano, masterfully played by Anthony Quinn, leaves us struck by his pathetic life and in the ultimate loss caused by his own hand. Tremendous

One of the finest films ever made; `La Strada' is a magnificent feat in cinema. I have been a fan of Federico Fellini ever since seeing the magnificent `8 ½', but I must confess that `La Strada' is the best film I've seen from him and the one that will continue to shake me for years to come. A beautiful, yet tragic tale of love and ignorance, and love IN ignorance, `La Strada' is a priceless portrayal of ones inability to transcend their own ingrained survival instincts and embrace what is right in front of their face; love.The film seems like a simple tale. Gelsomina is the eldest child in a poor single parent family who is sold to Zampano, a muscle-bound sideshow act who had previously purchased Gelsomina's sister (who is now deceased). Gelsomina is a simple girl, not too intelligent and completely naïve to the way of the world. Zampano is not much different though, even if he seems it. He too is a simple man, but he is less ignorant when it comes to the world and more ignorant when it comes to human relationships. He seems on the outset to be cruel and demanding, but he is merely acting in the only way he understands, most likely the way he was treated as a child. He thus treats Gelsomina, not as a lover or a wife but as a child, disciplining her with beatings and putting her down, constantly controlling her. When one really dissects his actions though, they are clearly expressions of love gone terribly wrong.Unlike the `monsters' created in cinema today to express the severity of spousal abuse, Zampano is far from a monster. He is a confused and conditioned man, lacking the ability to break his shell and better himself.Gelsomina is your typical victim, but her stunted comprehension of society's workings makes her almost a victim of herself. She finds herself thrust into a world that she is not privy to, and instead of learning to adapt she forcibly resists, or just cowers in cowardice. She lacks the drive to find herself, even though she is given the perfect opportunity to become her own person. When she does attempt to make those steps she backs down at the first sign of opposition, which leads her to coil back even further into the shell she builds to protect her from harm.The one thing that I think cannot be argued, but so frequently is, is the fact that Zampano and Gelsomina are in love. I know that this may seem odd and maybe even impossible when one looks at the events taking place, but events must be considered in context, and context to me proves that these two were ignorant in their own understanding of love, thus they acted foolishly and tragically in the name of a feeling they were too prideful, and maybe even stupid, to acknowledge. I don't want to get into much of the film, and especially not the ending, but when one watches the film I think it is important to look at the unseen as much as the seen. The actors do a masterful job of exposing their character's inner motives without really exposing them, keeping up a guard and making you wonder.When that guard is broken down by the discerning viewer a completely different conclusion can be drawn.The performances are all brilliant, especially Giulietta Masina who is startling as Gelsomina. Her almost speechless performance is elevated by her ability to convey so much with her face (that cute little artichoke). She has an almost theatrical quality that really fits the tone of the film well (beings that the circus is a major theme) and so it shows that she was observant of her character's surroundings and incorporated them into her performance. Anthony Quinn is also stunning as Zampano, giving him a layer of almost undetectable vulnerability (like I said, the unseen). I also really enjoyed Richard Basehart's jovial portrayal of Il Matto, Zampano's circus rival. His character is really one of the most challenging to discern, but when one finds their impression of the man then, and only then, can they understand their feelings of Zampano and Gelsomina. He is really the crux in their relationship, and ones impression of Il Matto greatly influences their impressions of the two leads.This film is truly an outstanding cinematic accomplishment and rests easily at the top of my personal favorite films of all time. It is beautifully shot, expertly paced, crisply directed, brilliantly acted and, above all else, marvelously written. It covers all of it's bases in a way that many films cannot.This one is definitely essential!

Every ten years or so, I get out my Fellini films and take the familiar journey which begins in the devastation and poverty of post-wwII Italy, through the phenomenal explosion of the Italian recovery during the 50's, then into the psychedelic 60s and beyond. And during the journey, 'La Strada' stands out. In a way, it encapsulates the entire Fellini universe -- grim neo-realism, moments of magic, dreams, virtuoso extravagance, defeat... then, at the end, surrender to an almost unbearable emotional force. For most people, 'La Strada' is the pinnacle Fellini experience. I see it as but a single peddle in the road, but like the one Gelsomina choses for herself, it's an enormously important, enormously personal pebble. Whatever you think about it, 'La Strada' is unforgettable.

DVD transfer: Excellent B&W. Criterion has done their usual standard-setting restoration and printing.I'm not real sure who should get the most credit for La Strada; writer-director Frederico Fellini or his wife and lead actress, Guilietta Masina. Fellini's vision of modern bondage set a midst a traveling carnival show gives us both the depths of human behavior and the almost impossible emergence of love within human squalor. While it's obvious Fellini was influenced by the Italian neo realism movement, this film should not be considered as part of that movement. True, the sets are hard and realistic location setups, adding to the rough and overbearing nature of the circus strongman, Zampano (Anthony Quinn), who buys an assistant, Gelsomina (Guilietta Masina) from a starving family but the themes depart from realism enough to keep it out of that genre..The relationship between Zampano and Gelsomina drives the story and it's not one which will please the audience. There's a love story here but it's anything but typical. It's love that's marked by jealousy, brutality and insensitivity. As the story progresses, we see Gelsomina become infatuated with a clown (Richard Basehart) which drives an otherwise oblivious Zampano to murder. The crestfallen Gelsomina begins a decline in spirit that culminates with her death. It's then, and only then, that we see love crack the almost unbreakable hide of the tough and callous, Zampano.The performance of Guilietta in La Strada, for me at least, has to be one of the top 10 best of all time. Her use of an almost mime-driven style to help express a wide range of human frailty and love is a wonder to behold. Sub-titles become worthless and unnecessary. If you want to see an actress practice her art at its highest level, then La Strada is the film for you.Recommended for those over 17 only based on themes beyond the interest or understanding of the young. If you buy only 1 foreign language film in your lifetime, make it La Strada.

A must-have for Cinema Buffs!Richard Basehart of "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" plays the supporting roleThe big star is Federico Fellinis wife, Giulietta Masina. The face of never-forgotten land!She is greater than life in this WW2 Italian era classic.Two thumbs and three toes up!

La Strada - Italian existentialism a la Ibsen.Federico Fellini's "La Strada", the way I look at it, is not about the character and protagonista Gelsomina, beautifully played by Giulietta Massina, as much as it is about Zampanó (Anthony Quinn).Federico Fellini asks a fundamental question: is Gelsomina's literally self-annihilating love enough to save the brute Zampanó who never loved anybody but himself? Even in the closing scene, senselessly drunk on the beach at sunrise, Zampanó cries out: "I need nobody!", whereupon the sun rises. Light floods the scene, is it the rays of love, the light of hope, we don't know.Fellini, well versed in classic existentialism; literature, theater and drama, e.g. in Ibsen, Kierkegaard, Strindberg, and others, refers here, I think, to the final scene in Henrik Ibsen's "Peer Gynt". Peer's lifelong self-love is juxtaposed against Solveig's lifelong and unselfish love for Peer who finally sees, but maybe still does not fully understand. Thus, when the last scene fades out, or rather: the curtain falls for the last time, Zampanó's fate and Peer's is still pending decision, namely: Zampanó's (or Peer's) own decision".I strongly recommend this film, it is arguably (one of) the best film(s) ever.

One of the best films from the fifties, a true masterpiece. Won the first Oscar for the Foreign Language Film in 1957. Even when I saw it as a teenager at the premiere, it made a big impression on me. The main theme, composed by the great Nino Rota, is unforgettable. The A/V presentation of this Blu ray is very good.

A slight fault in synchronisation but apart from that it is one of the best films ever made. I have watched it 3 times!

outstanding film

One of the best films ever made