Review of Nights of Cabiria (1957) by Tom A — 02 Apr 2008

Fellini's Oscar-winning film sits, much like his previous film La Strda, at the crossroads of his filmmaking style. Before these two films, Fellini employed a neo-realist style, like much of 1940s Italian cinema. But with these two films, he moves toward a magic realism that will soon become the full-blown fantasmagoria of Juliet of the Spirits, 8 1/2 (his greatest film) and Amarcord, etc. I first saw this film upon a re-release in the early '90s and thought it was incredible. Watching it again, it does not quite hold up as strongly but is electrifying, if only for the brilliant performance of Giulietta Masina. As a waifish prostitute on the streets of Rome, bouncing from sad encounter to sad encounter yet always looking for love and happiness, she imparts a Chaplinesque quality that radiates from her grim surroundings. She perfectly expresses Fellini's common theme of psychological escape -- but an escape from one's surroundings, not an escape from one's self -- and it is heartening to see Cabiria never give up, no matter how futile her quest for happiness. She is a maddening character -- shouting down her friends; falling naively into traps that cause her to be robbed and almost killed; making the same mistakes over and over again -- but she imparts a pride that is magnetic. The streets of Rome are both realistic and surreal at the same time, a hallmark of Fellini in this period. Masina deservedly won the Best Actress award at Cannes, and the film won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Bob Fosse would musicalize it with Shirley Maclaine as Sweet Charity. Not the masterpiece that is La Strada (which is similar in many ways) but a key film in the development of Fellini as an artist.

Criterion's DVD is relatively thin -- we see his assistant recollect working with Fellini, which is quite interesting -- but the most valuable piece is an audio interview with producer Dino De Laurentiis, who explains definitively why the "man with a sack" sequence was cut from all prints after its premiere at Cannes (it is restored here). The common belief (as I had always thought) was that the Catholic church had it cut as it implied the Church did not do enough to help the poor in Italy. However, de Laurentiis states that he cut it himself as it was not key to the film and slowed it down. He is right -- though it is an interesting scene, and helps contextualize Cabiria within the world she lives in -- it is a long scene that is not essential, and I can see why it was cut.