DVD Review: La Strada - Page 6

The story the film tells, penned by Fellini and his longtime collaborator Tullio Pinelli, is first rate, even as it comes awfully close to syrupy, while the black and white cinematography by Otelo Martelli is solid. La Strada is not a visual feast for the eyes, and some mat shots as the pair drive around in their wagon date the film, even as they are better than the techniques that filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock were using in America. But, the film is renowned most for the film score by Nino Rota, and the theme for Gelsomina that, even millions who’ve never heard of, much less seen, La Strada, will know from just a few bars. Yet, it does not hold up as well as other, later Fellini films, to a modern eye. It does have more in common with 1940s Hollywood films than many critics would like to admit, especially in the screenplay and scoring aspects that link it back to the social realism of 1930s American studio films — those starring a James Cagney or John Garfield.

Still, given it’s Fellini, it’s much better than many other films ever made, for there are those moments one can only get in a Fellini film, just like Ingmar Bergman can only give you psychosexual angst at such a high and poetic level. With Fellini, it’s those absurd moments that just stay within realistic bounds, like Gelsomina seeing a horse loudly clomping down a city street while alone and waiting for Zamapano to come back after a night with a whore, or seeing three country musicians marching by after she runs away from Zampano and is fascinated by an anthill, or her evocative theme song, first played on The Fool’s mini-violin, or the oddly poetic and comic poof of a cloud that explodes from The Fool’s inexplicably fiery car after Zampano pushes it off the road, into a ravine, after he kills the man.

These are the touches that, even when a great artist is not in top form, separate that artist from all the many pretenders. Fellini was no pretender — he was the real thing, and La Strada is a very good film. But it was an even better augur.

Article Author: Dan Schneider

Dan Schneider is the founder and webmaster of Cosmoetica: the best in poetica.

Visit Dan Schneider's author page — Dan Schneider's Blog