#0000C/#49: FELLINI, Federico: Nights Of Cabiria (1957)

FELLINI, Federico (Italy)

Nights Of Cabiria [1957]

Spine #0000C/Spine #49

DVD/OOP/Blu-ray

1999 synopsis

Giulietta Masina won Best Actress at Cannes as the title character of one of Fellini's most haunting films. Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, Nights of Cabiria (Le Notti di Cabiria) is the tragic story of a naive prostitute searching for true love in the seediest sections of Rome. Criterion proudly presents the restored director's cut in a breathtaking new transfer.

2020 synopsis

In the fifth of their immortal collaborations, Federico Fellini and the exquisitely expressive Giulietta Masina completed the creation of one of the most indelible characters in all of cinema: Cabiria, an irrepressible, fiercely independent sex worker who, as she moves through the sea of Rome’s humanity, through adversity and heartbreak must rely on herself — and her own indomitable spirit — to stay standing. Winner of the best actress prize at Cannes for Masina and the Academy Award for best foreign-language film, Nights of Cabiria brought the early, neorealist-influenced phase of Fellini’s career to a transcendent close with its sublimely heartbreaking yet hopeful final image, which embodies, perhaps more than any other in the director’s body of work, the blend of the bitter and the sweet that define his vision of the world.

118 minutes
Black & White

Monaural

in Italian

1:33:1 aspect ratio

Criterion Release 1999/2020

Director/Writers

Screenplay by Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano, and Tullio Pinelli.

Additional dialogue by Pier Paolo Pasolini.

Fellini was 37 when he directed Nights of Cabiria.

Other Fellini films in the Collection:

#0000C/#189: The White Sheik (1952)
#0000C/#246: I Viteloni (1953)
#0000C/#219: La Strada (1954)
#0000C: Il Bidone (1955)
#0000C/#733: La Dolce Vita (1960)
#0000C/#140: 8½ (1963)
#0000C/#149: Juliet Of The Spirits (1965)
#0000C/#747: Fellini Satyricon (1969)
#0000C/#848: Roma (1972)
#0000C/#4: Amarcord (1973)
#0000C/#50: And The Ship Sails On (1983)
#0000C: Intervista (1987)

The Film

After — at best — tepid commercial and critical reactions to his previous films (La Strada was not an immediate success), Fellini was probably done for if he didn’t produce a hit.

Producers were not too enthusiastic with the script for Cabiria. But it got made, and won all kinds of awards — but most of all, it made a Giulietta Masina an international star.

We can readily imagine Fellini having to acknowledge his many infidelities to his wife, perhaps saying, “I’m sorry, my dear — but look what I did for you with Cabiria!”

**

And indeed, the Cabiria character is one of Fellini’s greatest creations. From the opening scene, the viewer immediately realizes that this woman is terribly naive. Her best friend, Wanda (Franca Marzi) knows it. The famous actor, Alberto Lazzari (Amedeo Nazzari) knows it, but doesn’t have time to take advantage of it because his girlfriend, Jessy (Dorian Gray) butts in — even the hypnotist (Aldo Silvani) must have sensed it, using his skills to bring out her laughable innocence in front of a crowd of rowdy, horny Italian men.

Worst of all, Oscar (François Périer) knows it.

Film Rating (0-60):

57

The Extras

The Booklets

#0000C only: Eighty-four page booklet featuring an essay by David Forgacs.

“The range of Masina’s acting skills can be measured by comparing her performance here and in La Strada. Both are masterful, but whereas Gelsomina exudes radiant innocence and trust, Cabiria is the reverse: a woman whose acquired distrust of the world and of men has made her assume a tough, self-protective mask — though it is one that repeatedly cracks to reveal the fragile person inside. The film’s most poignant moments are when those cracks suddenly appear: when Cabiria cries on receiving what she believes to be a gesture of kindness from Lazzari, or when a stage hypnotist makes her disclose her most private romantic fantasy in front of a rowdy male audience and then, snapped out of the spell, she stares in terror at the garland of white lilies he had placed on her head, not knowing what secrets she has divulged. Again and again, Cabiria lets the mask slip only to put it back on again, so deep-rooted is her distrust. She pulls back several times from the devious Oscar, from when he first courts her to when he proposes marriage, only to finally give in and accept his offer, with tragic consequences.”

154-page booklet featuring an introduction by Bilge Ebiri and essays by Michael Almereyda (Primary Sources); Colm Tóibin (Imagined Homes); Carol Morley (Life on Earth); Stephanie Zacharek (Tough Love); and Kogonada (There is No End).

Morley:

“Cabiria, intrigued by an upcoming pilgrimage to a shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary, accompanies a group of her friends on a drive to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Divine Love. While she acts as if she’s just along for the ride, she is respectful of the occasion, and has changed from her work clothes — a tight black dress and feather bolero jacket — into a white, modestly buttoned-up coat. Stepping from her friend’s car, Cabiria looks around: ‘Get a look at this crowd,’ she says, placing herself firmly on the outside of the religious masses … Fellini weaves an incredibly detailed image-and-sound tapestry in this scene, and as the popular sacred song ‘Mira il tuo popolo’ lifts into the air, Cabiria enters the sanctuary. Inside, she grows ever more serious and pious, and, suddenly, giving up her previous resistance, she joins in with the song that rises and falls around her and cries out, ‘Grazia, Madonna,’ along with the rest of the crowd. Here we see Cabiria’s conversion from outside and spectator to full, feeling participant … in the next scene, sitting on the grass outside the shrine, Cabiria goes from feeling to thinking: ‘We haven’t changed. Nobody’s changed! We’re all the same as before.’”

#49 only: Six page wraparound featuring an essay by Fellini.

“The subject of loneliness and the observation of the isolated person has always interested me. Even as a child, I couldn’t help but notice those who didn’t fit inn for one reason or another — myself included. In life, and for my films, I have always been interested in the out-of-step. Curiously, it’s usually those who are either too smart or those who are too stupid who are left out. The difference is, the smart ones isolate themselves, while the less intelligent ones are usually isolated by others. In Nights of Cabiria, I explore the pride of one of those who has been excluded.”

#0000C:

Commentary

None.

Giulietta Masina: The Power of a Smile

An hour-long documentary from 2004.

An exceptional look at the life and career of Fellini’s wife — from her earliest days as a dramatic actress in radio (where she met her husband), to her work with Fellini, as well as her many other performances for other directors.

Asked to pick her favorite memory, she chooses the night she met Errol Flynn and even danced with him.

Third Episode

Of Second Look, André Delvaux’s 1960 series of interviews with Fellini for Belgian television.

Continuation of Fellini interview. Nothing new.

#0000C/#49:

Interview

From 1999 with filmmaker Dominique Delouche.

Divided into personal reflections on 1) Fellini 2) Massina 3) Pasolini and 4) Dino De Laurentiis.

Audio interview

From 1998 with producer De Laurentiis.

Now this is hilarious! After talking about having final cut, he proudly asserts that he would never abuse the privilege, especially with someone like Fellini.

Then he discusses the argument he had about the “Man with the sack” sequence. Fellini insisted on keeping it in, despite De Laurentiis’s insistence that it interrupted the narrative and made the film too long.

They had a screening with the sequence in and out, and the results seemed to uphold De Laurentiis’s viewpoint. Still, Fellini resisted.

Finally, De Laurentiis sneaked into the editing bay and stole the footage!

Fellini was gobsmacked when they had to put together the final cut, and he couldn’t locate the footage.

Years later, Fellini — realizing what had happened — asked the producer to return the stolen footage, which he did.

The film is much the better for its inclusion, despite the Catholic church’s objection, on the grounds that it was the Church’s responsibility to provide for the poor.

But the “Man with the sack” and the people living in those holes were real — including the old former prostitute.

Trailers

#49:

Restoration demonstration

Excerpt

From Fellini’s The White Sheik (1952) {Spine #0000C/#189}, in which Masina makes her first appearance as Cabiria.

Trailers

Both the original and rerelease.

Extras Rating (0-40):

37

57 + 37 =

94

By Director
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