1957 Winner, Nights of Cabiria

Nights of Cabiria

Director:        Federico Fellini

Distributed by:  Lopert Pictures Corporation

Released:  May 1957

Country:  Italy

Giulietta Masina is a name you probably never heard of.  She was Fellini’s wife of 50 years and one day.  They fell in love after he picked her for a radio serial he had written and they were married shortly after in 1943.  She died just five months after he did in 1993.  She was his muse, his inspiration, and his partner.

But she was also a great actress in her own right, starring in a number of movies directed by her husband, including 1957’s Best Foreign Film, Nights of Cabiria.  For her performance in this film, she won several awards, including Best Actress awards from the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists and from the Cannes Film Festival.  She starred in two of Fellini’s Best Foreign Films—this one and the more known La Strada from 1956.  She’s very good in that film, but it’s rare when you see a performance as moving as when she plays the prostitute Cabiria in this film.

Nights of Cabiria starts with a scene that shows exactly how things are going for Cabiria.  She is frolicking (yes, frolicking) with a young man, Giorgio, on the banks of a river, swinging her purse and gazing at him with one of those “I wish someone looked at me like that” looks.  Then Giorgio points to the river: Looky there!  She looks, and in one motion grabs the purse and pushes her into the drink.  Turns out their relationship was nothing but a con to get what little money she had.

Cabiria with her movie star john

Cabiria almost drowns, but is saved by some locals.  She is hurt and angry, but she moves on in her dreary life.  She has a small home, more than most of the other prostitutes she knows have.  She’s not very attractive, but she never seems to be without a smile, except of course when men are stealing all her money and nearly killing her.  She has friends, but they’re all prostitutes too, and she wants more out of life.

She is exposed to more.  She briefly is under the “employ” of a rich movie star who is on the outs with his glamorous girlfriend.  He invites her to his place but makes no advances.  She is wowed at how the other half lives, and he genuinely seems to like her.  But he eventually makes up with his girl and she is again back to reality.  Another time, she is impressed by a group of nuns that come through the prostitute neighborhood.  She wonders if this is the life she should choose, but again, in her gritty world, such things don’t seem realistic.

Humiliated by a hypnotist

All this is prelude to what happens to her at a carnival.  She is “volunteered” at one of those cheap carny acts, a hypnotist having her acting out her desires.  Her desires, as we all know, is for her to lead a normal life, with a kind husband and maybe some kids and household chores to attend to.  She is on stage, pantomiming the gestures of her naïve ideas of what love is, and her performance ends with her realizing the audience is all laughing at her.  It’s awful, but saved by one man, Oscar, who approaches her after the show, taking her side and letting her know her ideas are not so naïve.

The relationship between Cabiria and Oscar forms the film’s third act.  Without telling you how it goes, there are two scenes that stand out.  The first is about one of the most heartbreaking scenes you will see on film, and Masina acts it masterfully.  Like Al Pacino’s famous scene in The Godfather as he ponders his first assassination, Masina’s feelings are all told in the eyes.  The scene is followed by a scene full of hope, again the product of a great performance by Masina. 

It's all in the eyes

Fellini deserves all the praise in the world for his directing in this film.  But he must have given his wife Giulietta Masina a few “I wish someone looked at me like that” looks as he watched her give a performance that made this film a pleasure to watch.

The Title:  Le notti di Cabiria.  Cabiria was actually a character in an earlier film, the first one directed solely by Fellini, The White Sheik (or Lo sceicco bianco) from 1952.  The part was played by Mesina in that film as well.

The culture:  This film is Fellini before he turned from neo-realism to art films filled with symbolism, like 1963’s 8½.  None of the prostitutes are beautiful, and their lives sure aren’t. 

More acting with the eyes: Alec Guiness, The Bridge on the River Kwai

Agenda danger:  The film also includes a popular topic for Fellini, the Catholic Church.  It’s clear Fellini, who was Catholic, has mixed feelings about the traditions and beliefs of the Church.  Cabiria’s brief encounter with the Church does offer her a bit of hope for redemption and a better life, but she never pursues that chance seriously.

Best Picture that year:  The Bridge on the River Kwai.

Rating:  I’m not saying this is Fellini’s best film—I would chose 1956’s La Strada as my favorite—but it is a great character study, featuring a wonderful performance by Mesina.  The story is a sad one, but Mesina’s Cabiria isn’t someone you feel sorry for, despite her being a down-on-her-luck prostitute.  To me, that’s great acting.