Nights of Cabiria

I would not argue that there could be better films made before and after Cabiria. Perhaps. But there never will be another "Nights of Cabiria" - the last Fellini's film with the linear structure, his third and the most successful collaboration with his actress wife, Giulietta Masina, his immortal love letter to her. Of all his characters, Fellini once said, Cabiria was the only one he was still worried about. Of all the characters, I've seen in the films, Cabiria is the one I often think about - what ever happened to her? Did she survive? Was she able to find love?

I've never seen the face so alive, changing its expression every moment. If the face is the soul's mirror, Cabiria's (Masina's) face reflects her every single emotion and how effortlessly she goes from bitter cynicism to wistful yearning, from despair to hope, from tears to smile. While there's life there's hope. As long as Cabiria smiles in the end of this tragicomic masterpiece, there is hope for all of us.

My friends went to see The Queen last night - I was too tired and decided to go back home. I put in the DVD and got into bed figuring I would watch an half hour or so and fall asleep. At the end of nearly 2 hours, I was sitting up straight, wide awake, awestruck at the genius in the direction and acting. This is cinema at its finest. I have seen La Strada before and I now rank Fellini's earlier work as among my all time favorites (along with Ozu.) Masina's tearful smile at the camera at the end is pure magic - so much dignity and hope captured in a single second. Her performance throughout the movie was a revelation - she got innocent hope and graceful charm to shine through her foul-mouthed vulgar acting character. I simultaneously cared and despaired for her - this movie pulled me in like no recent Hollywood movie has for a long long time.

As a film-lover, there are movies that I've outgrown, movies that disappointingly lose their connection to me as I age and mature. Fellini's "Le Notti di Cabiria" is one of those movies that seems to grow with me. It grows richer with each yearly viewing. I never tire of it; I am moved in different ways each time I see it. Fellini and his amazing muse, Giulietta Masina, created one of those rare movie masterpieces in 1957 that comments on its time, yet remains fresh and contemporary as well. But I lament that this gem is so little known today. I trust its recent restoration will help remedy the movie-going public's oversight. The film's rich concluding scene alone (and Masina's glance into our eyes) remains one of the most magical moments ever projected on a screen.

This is one of the most perfect films ever committed to celluloid. It involved me more than at least 99% of other films I've seen, and the main character, Cabiria, is a character to cherish and love forever (of course, we who have seen La Strada are already partly familiar with the character). I've hardly ever cared more about a character, and even after only five minutes into the film, I wanted so desperately to protect her. Giulietta Masina is so masterful in her performance, and Federico Fellini, her husband, is as masterful in his direction. I did not believe that they could match their success with La Strada, but, in fact, they succeeded in surpassing it. Bravo. 10/10. One of the best films ever made, plain and simple.

I am not much in favor of "best" lists--I wouldn't make it in Cusack's "High Fidelity" world--but I can usually offer a range of titles of films that I consider the most powerful experiences I have had in front of a screen--Bicycle Thief, Ran, Ordet, Seventh Seal, Citizen Kane, L'Avventura, Rear Window, Blade Runner, quite a few others. But if I had to pick just one title, it would be Nights of Cabiria. I saw it when it first came out in this country--I was a junior in high school and fortunate enough to live near a theater that showed foreign films. It ran for several weeks and I kept going back to see it over and over, giving myself permission by dragging friends to see it. No one was ever disappointed, though only a couple of friends developed a comparable enthusiasm with mine. I have continued to see

it every chance I get, though I have not had the opportunity to see the latest reissue--I probably will have to see it on

video or dvd, since the city I now live in rarely shows any foreign films. Giulietta Massina gives not just the greatest

performance of her career, but surely one of the greatest

performances ever recorded on film, and the sequence of Cabiria's experiences, at first seemingly random and insignificant, adds up to one of the most profound statements Fellini ever made about human life.