LA STRADA (1954) On the road, Fellini style

I hadn’t seen LA STRADA for many years and about all I could recall was how brutishly cruel Anthony Quinn's character was. Now, through adult's eyes, I can see Fellini's vision – basically about three different ways of being human, three different ways of interacting with others, and thus three different ways of finding meaning in human existence. LA STRADA (The Road) is indeed a journey for the two main characters, the insensitive strongman Zampano (Quinn) and his simple-minded, all-too-sensitive assistant Gelsomina (Giuletta Masina), who peddle their silly carnival act town to town. We know from the start these two are doomed - as is a third character known as The Fool (Richard Basehart), a carefree clown-aerialis: Zampano, doomed to guilt; Gelsomina, to lovelessness; and The Fool, to Fate. Yet, even these characters whose lives have been so misshaped by cruelty and sadness find fleeting moments of the best that life has to offer: love, compassion and joy. Among many, many magical moments Felini captures is when Chaplineque Masina (whose rubber face conveys everything) mimes the graceful shape of a small tree as a laughing child looks on. (Trivia notes: Masina, Fellini's wife, gives a performance considered to be one of the finest in all of filmdom. La Strada received an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and a nomination for Best Original Screenplay.)