BrokenProjector.com

Italian Neo-realism: La Strada by Federico Fellini

Federico Fellini’s ‘La Strada’ is a touching tale of life on the road and one of the finest films ever made. Made in 1954, in the time when the Italian Neo-realism movement was at its peak, ‘La Strada’ stood out as an original piece of work which was as much neo-realist cinema as it was not. The film is set in a typical Felliniesque universe, a perfect meeting point of the real and the surreal. Much on the lines of classic neo-realist cinema, the story, the characters and the events provide an accurate depiction of reality being faithfully shot on location but at the same time they provide a sense of surrealism by having a fable-like thread running through the film that is unseen but not unfelt.

‘La Strada’, meaning simply ‘The Road’ takes us on a road trip through the lives of Zampano (played by American actor Anthony Quinn), a strongman who travels from town to town performing his incredible feat of breaking an iron chain by simply expanding his chest and his assistant Gelsomina (played by Fellini’s wife Giulietta Masina) who accompanies him on the snare drum and collects money in a hat once the performance is through. Here we are provided with two highly contrasting characters: Zampano- a merciless, brutish and heartless giant who shows no sign of human emotion and believes in having his way by the use of sheer force and Gelsomina- a sweet, innocent, child-like woman who shows a lot of inner beauty and a sense of loyalty to Zampano even after his constant abusive nature and ill treatment of her. Half-way through the story we are given a third perspective with the arrival of The Fool (played by Richard Baseheart). His incredible behaviour and his feat of having a serving of pasta while walking a tight rope give him an almost angelic feel. He is constantly seen annoying the violent Zampano and teasing Gelsomina who is clearly awed by him. He assigns a signature melody to Gelsomina and she picks it up and makes it her own.

The relationship between The Fool and Gelsomina is provided as a sense of hope for her in a life that seemingly cannot escape the towering shadow of Zampano. The Fool makes her an offer to leave Zampano and come with him, an offer that leads to his eventual accidental death at the hands of Zampano. Gelsomina clearly shook up by the death of the only good thing in her life slowly descends into a downward spiral of madness. Zampano, unable to manage her growing madness is forced to leave her.

Many years go by and Zampano returns to where he had last seen Gelsomina and he hears her signature melody being whistled by one of the locals. After further inquiry, he finds out that she had died a sad and lonely person. Zampano, for the first time is emotionally overwhelmed and breaks down into tears.

John Parris Springer in his essay Fellini’s Magic Neo-realism states that Fellini had used the three main characters of the film as metaphors to the three natural elements of Water, Air and Earth. Gelsomina is often shown to be excited when around a beach or any other water-related body and everytime she is seen interacting with water a sense of cleansing is brought about. The Fool is a depiction of Air. His introduction on the tight rope far above the ground and the fake wings attached to his back signify a sense of flight and a relation to air. He also has a sense of blowing in and around both Zampano and Gelsomina. The element of Earth was embedded into the character of Zampano, a cold, immovable being who is eventually ‘cracked up’ and ‘barren’ by the departure of water (the element of Gelsomina).

‘La Strada’ was Federico Fellini’s third film and won the first Best Foreign Language Oscar for him. Alongside his masterpiece 8^1/2 (1963), it takes its righful place as Fellini’s finest piece of work.