NIGHTS OF CABIRIA (1957) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1998 Ted Prigge
Director: Federico Fellini Writers: Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and Tullio Pinelli Starring: Giulietta Masina, François Périer, Franca Marzi, Amedeo Nazzari, Dorian Gray, Aldo Silvani, Mario Passante, Pina Gualandri, Polidor
I didn't even know "Nights of Cabiria" was a movie until before this summer when it was announced it would be rereleased in theaters. I was even more surprised to discover it's a Fellini film, a director I'm in the process of discovering as I try to see all the films that have influenced some of my favorite contemporary directors. But there's more: it won the Oscar in 1957 for Best Foreign Film, being one of the four Fellini films to do that (the others: "La Strada," "8 1/2," and "Amarcord"), and it inspired the semi-popular musical, "Sweet Charity."
There's got to be a reason this is so unknown in modern day society, especially since the other three films on that list are relatively well-known, and others that didn't win Oscars are more well-known. I'm not sure why, but I will say after seeing it, it's a real shame, not because of the other reasons why it should be known, but because of the most ironic reason a film should be cherished by modern-day societies: it's perhaps Fellini's most accessible film. I took two people to see this film with me, both who weren't too aquainted with his work, and they both came out loving it.
Whether taken as a religious allegory or a satire or whatever else you can dissect it as, "Nights of Cabiria" is first a touching funny/sad story. It's like Chaplin if he were more bleak and used less slapstick. In fact, it's public knowledge that Giulietta Masina, the star of the film (and Fellini's wife), based her Cabiria performance on the Little Tramp. Cabiria is an aging prostitute in Rome, and she uses her toughness to ward off police raids, talk down to some of the other more aggressive prostitutes, and make sure that her clients don't jerk her around.
But at the same time, Cabiria is weak, and she's not just looking for some quick cash. She wants to be loved, and her job leads her to many potential clients or lovers. In fact, the film finds her in a month-long relationship as the film begins, only to lose it all suddenly and have to go back to her profession. In this retrospect, Cabiria is sympathetic because she has perpetual bad luck, but Masina doesn't just make her a character of pity. She makes her lovable. With an umbrella in her hand almost all the time, and with her Bambi-like face, Cabiria is almost impossible not to like, and Masina makes her into a unique character: her bursts of anger at certain parts in the movie come out of a fear of emotional pain.
Fellini's strong point was capturing reality and making it hypnotic. In many of his films, especially his masterpiece, "La Dolce Vita," sequences go on for long periods of time, giving the film an episodic but nevertheless capitivating feel. In Cabiria there are many sequences of varying ranges, but they never become boring because Fellini always makes them interesting, and filled with human emotion. When Cabiria is picked up by a movie star (Amedeo Nazzari), we see her bragging to all her friends while in his car, only to see her dumped by him because his girlfriend returns to apologise for a fight they had earlier.
We see all of this from the point of view of Cabiria, who's a witness to several of the same things that are shown from a different perspective in "La Dolce Vita" (which was from the point of view of a gossip collumist). She witnesses some of the decadence of Roman society as he always showed, but the strongest scenes are the ones where Cabiria is shit upon, which make for the most poignant and emotional moments since Chaplin films. In the film's best scene, she's put under a spell by a sadistic hypnotist in front of a giant audience, where she confesses some of her deepest desires, only to receive jeers from the audience when she awakens.
A love story occurs late in the film, but the film actually moves in a giant circle, and the final scenes are filled with tension and sadness. Fellini demonstrates that he was one of the best directors in the history of cinema because he knew how to make his audience feel what his characters were feeling, and was able to do that without manipulation or cheap stunts. In these final scenes, we're right there with Cabiria because we care about her, and we ultimately want to see her come out okay. Fellini knew that the key to making a great film was creating characters who were likable and could make some connection with his audience. Cabiria may be his greatest creation. She's like all of us. She has ups and downs throughout the film. She wonders about faith and ponders the same unfaithful questions we often ponder. And most of all, she shows that we need to be survivalists if we're going to make it at all in this crazy world.
But if Cabiria's his greatest creation, it's mostly due to the performance by Giulietta Masina. She wasn't just the director's wife, the way that Lindsay Crouse and Rebecca Pidgeon are the wives of writer/director David Mamet. She was an extremely talented actress who appeared in several of his films, such as "Juliet of the Spirits," and she's shown that she's not just an adorable creature (and she is), but that she's also a brilliant actress. With her Cabiria character, she absolutely eats up the screen. She's never boring, she never overacts, and she's always lovable, even when she's hostile and even pathetic. And with that final shot with the tears in her eyes and a smile that can't help but be on her face despite what has happened to her, we can't help but feel a sad happiness along with her.
MY RATING (out of 4): ****
Homepage at: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/8335/
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews