Thursday January 5 | 7PM Nights of Cabiria aka Le notti del Cabiria Italy 1957 d. Frederico Fellini with Giulietta Masina, François Périer, Franca Marzi, Dorian Gray, Aldo Silvani, Ennio Girolami, Amedeo Nazzari and Franco Fabrizi. Black and white. In Italian with English subtitles. 118 m
“Fellini and Masina’s unique collaboration appears to demolish the wall between life and art, film and audience. ‘Whenever I perform in Federico’s films,’ she once said, ‘the people are very humiliated characters who have suffered. I wish they could defend themselves, and that always brings out a struggle between me and the characters I play. I love and hate them.'” John Hartl
“…the plot of Nights of Cabiria is really nothing but a vehicle that allows the extraordinary Masina…to build the character of Cabiria layer by layer. At first she holds herself away from us, a thundercloud of unhappiness. She scowls and frets and averts her eyes. But with each scene, Masina pulls her character into sharper focus. [J]ust when Cabiria begins to seem too cranky, Masina shows us a little something else….Nights of Cabiria is one of the finest collaborations between husband and wife ever committed to film. Fellini seems to step aside, opening a broad path for Masina to do her wonderful work.” Stephanie Zacharek
See Also: La Strada (Fellini, 1954), Juliet of the Spirits (Fellini, 1965), Ginger and Fred (Fellini, 1986)
Series: Winter 2023 :: Four Muses