
La Strada
PG
Why watch?
“If you haven't seen it, you are not prepared... If you have seen it, you know you are going to leave here with your heart torn in two. One of the greatest, don't miss this on the big screen as god intended.”
Mosa Mpetha,
Creative Engagement Officer
Federico Fellini’s fourth feature, La Strada, follows young and innocent Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina) who is sold as a performing assistant to an itinerant circus strongman (Anthony Quinn). Eagerly learning the ropes, Gelsomina is repeatedly beaten down by her thuggish master as they tour the towns of central Italy.
The remarkable Giulietta Masina plays Gelsomina, a naïve young woman who is purchased from her impoverished mother by brutish circus strongman Zampanò (Anthony Quinn) to be his wife and partner. Gelsomina loyally endures her husband's coldness and abuse as they travel the Italian countryside performing together. Soon Zampanò must deal with his jealousy and conflicted feelings about Gelsomina when she finds a kindred spirit in Il Matto (Richard Basehart), the carefree circus fool.
Masina's collaboration with her husband, director Federico Fellini, results in one of cinema's most iconic films, with powerful performances, evocative imagery, and emotional depth.
This event is in partnership with Welcome2ItalianLanguage and Amacort Film Festival in Italy.
Details
“The heart-wrenching story of a young woman sold by her mother to a strolling player is infused with humanity, theatricality and operatic pathos.”
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“La strada contains philosophical and spiritual dimensions, and a unified visual poetry, that qualify it as Fellini’s first masterpiece.”
Christina Newland, Criterion

