Saturday, April 03, 2010

La Strada (DVD)

La Strada (1954) starring Anthony Quinn, Giulietta Masina, Richard Basehart. Brutish traveling entertainer Zampano (Quinn) buys services of simpleton Gelsomina (Masina) from her mother for the equivalent of about $15. He takes her on the road to "teach her a trade" as an itinerant clown. But it soon becomes clear that he will treat her as his stooge. She falls for him, but he mistreats her. She tries to leave him, but he won't let her go. The film develops naturally until a surprisingly devastating conclusion. This movie won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In English, la strada means "the road." The subtitles are a little hard to read. Grade: A

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