Directed by Federico Fellini • 1954 • Italy
Starring Giulietta Masina, Anthony Quinn, Richard Basehart
With this breakthrough film, Federico Fellini launched both himself and his wife and collaborator Giulietta Masina to international stardom, breaking with the neorealism of his early career in favor of a personal, poetic vision of life as a bittersweet carnival. The infinitely expressive Masina registers both childlike wonder and heartbreaking despair as Gelsomina, loyal companion to the traveling strongman Zampanò (Anthony Quinn, in a toweringly physical performance), whose callousness and brutality gradually wear down her gentle spirit. Winner of the very first Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film, LA STRADA (“The Road”) possesses the purity and timeless resonance of a fable and remains one of cinema’s most exquisitely moving visions of humanity struggling to survive in the face of life’s cruelties.
Up Next in Italian Neorealism
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Rocco and His Brothers
Directed by Luchino Visconti • 1960 • Italy
Starring Alain Delon, Annie Girardot, Renato SalvatoriLooking for opportunity, five brothers move north with their mother to Milan. There, Simone and Rocco find fame, in the boxing ring, and love, in the same woman. Jealousy mounts, blood is shed, and...
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Girl in the Window
Directed by Luciano Emmer • 1961 • Italy, France
Starring Lino Ventura, Magali Noël, Marina VladyLuciano Emmer, one of the unsung figures of the neorealist movement, directs this slice-of-life immigrant’s tale cowritten by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Beginning with a visceral look at the harsh working...
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Salvatore Giuliano
Directed by Francesco Rosi • 1962 • Italy
July 5, 1950--Sicilian bandit Salvatore Giuliano's bullet-riddled corpse is found facedown in a courtyard in Castelvetrano, a handgun and rifle by his side. Local and international press descend upon the scene, hoping to crack open the true story behind ...
