Federico Fellini’s La strada (The Road in English) is a beautifully captured, poignant film that will undoubtedly go down in history as one of Italy’s finest pictures and as a staple of Fellini’s work.
The film stars Giulietta Masina, Fellini’s wife and one of his most-used actresses. After her performance in 1952’s Lo sceicco bianco (translated to The White Sheik), where she briefly appeared as a prostitute, Fellini cast her in La strada’s lead role of Gelsomina, a woman sold to a gypsy to work as his assistant.
The gypsy, named Zampanò, is played by the impressive Anthony Quinn. He brings the perfect balance of brute and unrelenting boss to the character, but with a subtle hint of likability, especially in the final moments of the film. He is the kind of man seemingly impossible to root for and as he trains Gelsomina to assist in his act (breaking an iron chain around his chest), he treats her cruelly and belittles her.
Yet, this is the hallmark of many of Fellini’s characters. They show human characteristics, such as cruelness, a lack of compassion, immorality, etc. But, in the end, Fellini inevitably shows viewers that these characters are only human and not perfect, but that they, too, have some decency.
Basehart Impresses as "The Fool"
Gelsomina, however, remains loyal to him throughout extraordinary events, and her innocence and softness is the perfect foil for Zampanò. She is a girl who was sold by her mother, and yet she remains child-like and wishes to return home to the mother who gave her away.
As Gelsomina and Zampanò move from town to town and perfect their act, they run into Il Matto (“The Fool”), played brilliantly by Richard Basehart. Surprisingly, Basehart is an American, but his performance as a clown and Zampanò’s nemesis is so superb that his foreign heritage is not noticed.
Il Matto is quite possibly the most important part of the story. He brings action to the film, with his rivalry with Zampanò leading to both being thrown in jail, kicking off an important chain of events. Il Matto also becomes a companion for Gelsomina, in some ways, and he brings a kind of philosophy to the film that perfectly captures Gelsomina and points her back to Zampanò after she has become resigned to leave him.
Fellini's Best Film?
The ending of the film is bittersweet and more than appropriate for what we know of Fellini’s work, and it is beautiful. It is easy to see why the film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and quite disappointing that it lost Best Screenplay honors to Albert Lamorisse's The Red Balloon.
The film shows the legendary Fellini for what he was and will forever be known as - a genuine, incredible storyteller. La strada may not be Fellini’s best work (although it can certainly be debated), but it is absolutely one of his bests and one of the greatest Italian films ever made.
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