Blu-ray Review: Federico Fellini’s La Strada on the Criterion Collection

This Blu-ray is a budget-conscious option for those seeking to dip their toes into an Italian maestro’s work.

La StradaFederico Fellini’s La Strada was the first of his films to strongly foreground the fantastical qualities that came to define the Fellini-esque. From Nino Rota’s lilting, melancholic score to Otello Martelli’s evocative lensing of the sea, sky, and rural landscapes, this heart-wrenching parable of brutality and grace clearly inspired Fellini to break free of neorealist traditions and embark on an increasingly personal journey into his tortured soul and the distorted memories of his past. The carnivalesque atmosphere that would come to dominate the director’s films following 1960’s La Dolce Vita is here rendered both more quaint and literal than in those works, but it’s no less rich in its emotional depth and expressivity.

Following the misadventures of two social outcasts—a circus strong man, Zampanò (Anthony Quinn), and his petite clown sidekick, Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina)—La Strada is an alternately tender and harsh allegory of the beauties and horrors of life. Traveling around provincial Italy on a rickety motorcycle-wagon hybrid, Zampanò and Gelsomina perform their circus act for small crowds, with Zampanò breaking a metal chain around his chest by expanding his muscles and Gelsomina doing drum rolls and clown routines.

Zampanò is a gruff beast with a tendency toward explosive violence and an utter contempt for the world that shows in his every expression. Gelsomina, by contrast, is gentle, compassionate, and all too forgiving of Zampanò’s abuses, especially as she was essentially forced to replace her deceased sister Rosa as his assistant. We never learn the exact reasons behind Rosa’s death, but they’re hinted at with the arrival of The Fool (Richard Basehart), who’s part of a circus troupe that Zampanò was once a part of, and which he now rejoins.

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The presence of The Fool, who repeatedly goads Zampanò, mocking him for having only one simple act to perform, exposes the strong man’s deep-seated insecurities. While it doesn’t excuse his mistreatment of Gelsomina, it complicates our understanding of him as a mere unthinking, unfeeling brute. Gelsomina, too, is revealed to be more than meets the eye. The young woman at first suggests a simple martyr; early on, her mother even says, “She just came out a little strange.” But her growing impatience with Zampanò, who seems unable to appreciate the ways in which she comforts him and contributes to his circus act, unearths a fury and frustration that once seemed impossible from the woman whose large, sad eyes and poignant expressions suggest a permanent state of docility and subservience.

Fellini has said that he based parts of Zampanò on himself, while his wife, Masina, played Gelsomina as a 10-year-old version of herself. This makes it easy to read La Strada as a metaphorical exploration of their marriage, but the film operates so distinctly as a fable that this interpretation is too limiting. La Strada is best seen as a poetic expression of the yin-yang relationship between the masculine and feminine, and the destructive tendencies lurking beneath the surface of traditional masculinity. If the binary nature of Fellini’s gender politics are perhaps a bit outdated, the film’s clarity of vision is such that it remains striking both for its immediacy and the articulation of the emotions that propel its archetypal characters.

Image/Sound

Criterion has transferred the same 4K digital restoration used for the Blu-ray in their Essential Fellini box set from 2020, which looked stunning. The contrast ratio is quite impressive, with blacks consistently appearing nice and inky. The image is sharp and very rich in detail, whether in extreme close-ups or in the various rural landscapes and seaside vistas. The uncompressed monaural soundtrack is well-balanced and robust, especially when Nino Rota’s score swells or the sounds of wind or waves crashing rise from the background.

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Extras

Peter Bondanella’s audio commentary, recorded in 2003, offers some fantastic insights into La Strada, from the influence of Charles Chaplin and commedia dell’arte, particularly on the character of Gelsomina, to the massive, international impact that the film had upon its release. The disc also comes with two great documentaries, each running nearly a full hour: Federico Fellini’s Autobiography, from 2000, and Giulietta Masina: The Power of a Smile, from 2004. The former consists of career-spanning interviews with Fellini discussing what drives his art and how he’s handled his clashes with various producers, while the latter sheds light on Giulietta Masina’s early life, her stage and radio work, and how her uncanny blending of comedy and tragedy in her collaborations with her husband. Elsewhere, Martin Scorsese provides an introduction in which he discusses the influence of the film, especially its depiction of the self-destructive Zampanò, on his own work. The release is rounded out with a foldout booklet with an essay by critic Christina Newland, who thoughtfully unpacks La Strada’s use of tropes, myth, and symbolism, arguing that its diminishing reputation stems, in part, from modern audiences’ inclination toward psychological realism.

Overall

The first standalone release to be ported from Criterion’s Essential Fellini box set, this Blu-ray is a budget-conscious option for those seeking to dip their toes into an Italian maestro’s work.

Score: 
 Cast: Giulietta Masina, Anthony Quinn, Richard Basehart, Aldo Silvani, Marcello Rovena, Livia Venturini, Gustavo Giorgi, Pietro Ceccarelli  Director: Federico Fellini  Screenwriter: Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli  Distributor: The Criterion Collection  Running Time: 108 min  Rating: NR  Year: 1954  Release Date: November 2, 2021  Buy: Video

Derek Smith

Derek Smith's writing has appeared in Tiny Mix Tapes, Apollo Guide, and Cinematic Reflections.

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