The Styrous® Viewfinder: La Strada

April 21, 2021

La Strada ~ Anthony Quinn, Federico Fellini & Giulietta Masina

La Strada movie poster - 1954

Today is the birthday of Mexican-American actor, painter, writer, and film director, Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca, better known as Anthony Quinn, born on April 21, 1915, in Chihuahua, Mexico, during the Mexican Revolution.

Two of his films demonstrated to me his brilliant acting ability, the 1954 Italian film, La Strada, directed by Federico Fellini, and in 1962, Requiem for a Heavyweight, written by Rod Serling (link below). Both are fantastic but La Strada holds a special place in my heart. It is one of the great tragic love stories of cinema and one of my all-time favorite films; the casting was superb and the score by Nino Rota was out of this world. There is a beautiful interpretation of the music from the film by l'Ensemble Ô-Celli (links below).

l'Ensemble Ô-Celli - 2018
photographer unknown

The film tells the story of Gelsomina, a simple-minded young woman (Giulietta Masina) bought from her mother by Zampanò (Anthony Quinn), a crude and cruel strongman who takes her with him on the road. It also starred Richard Basehart as the acrobat and clown, Il Matto ("The Fool") (link to complete plot and cast below).

Anthony Quinn as Zampanò

La Strada - 1954

film still

Fellini has called La Strada "a complete catalogue of my entire mythological world, a dangerous representation of my identity that was undertaken with no precedent whatsoever."

Giulietta Masina as Gelsomina
La Strada - 1954

publicity photo

The film demanded more time and effort than any of his other works, before or since. The development process was long and tortuous; there were various problems during production, including insecure financial backing, problematic casting, and numerous delays. Finally, just before the production completed shooting, Fellini suffered a nervous breakdown that required medical treatment so he could complete principal photography.

Richard Basehart as Il Matto ("The Fool")

La Strada - 1954

film still

Initial critical reaction was harsh, and the film's screening at the Venice Film Festival was the occasion of a bitter controversy that escalated into a public brawl between Fellini's supporters and detractors.

Anthony Quinn & Giulietta Masina

La Strada - 1954

film still

La Strada has become "...one of the most influential films ever made," according to the American Film Institute. It won the inaugural Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1957. It was placed fourth in the 1992 British Film Institute directors' list of cinema's top 10 films.

Federico Fellini & Giulietta Masina

La Strada - 1954

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, Giulietta Masina as Gelsomina:

"Masina's character is perfectly suited to her round clown's face and wide, innocent eyes; in one way or another, in Juliet of the Spirits, Ginger and Fred and most of her other films, she was always playing Gelsomina."