ONE MOVIE, THREE QUOTES: La Strada (1954)

So, I came back from Venice a few days ago and it was absolutely grand spending a few days in one of my favorite cities in the world. And I did say August’s ONE MOVIE, THREE QUOTES was going to relate to my travels somehow. No, not Summertime (1955, dir. David Lean), you’ll be surprised to hear. Instead, I’m going to be talking about one of my favorite Italian films of all time, La Strada (1954, dir. Federico Fellini), which was the first featured film on my WORLD CINEMA series last year. Ah, good times. La Strada follows Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina), a simple woman who is sold by her mother to strongman Zampano (Anthony Quinn) to go on the road with him. Read my review here.

Here are three of my favorite quotes from it:

‘What a funny face! Are you a woman, really? Or an artichoke?’ The Fool (Richard Basehart) – This pretty much sums up Gelsomina and I mean that in the best way possible. Giulietta Masina had an incredible face. And in this particular role, well… it’s heaven.

‘Come here. There should be something here to fit you. I want you to look elegant. I don’t want to see you in rags. My women have always looked smart.’ Zampano – Zampano’s a complete brute and Quinn pulls no punches here.

‘Do you remember how beautiful it was, Zampano? Watching the rain from the window that day?’ Gelsomina – Her vulnerability, her sweetness, her kindness are all on display here and it’s both beautiful and tragic to watch. Is it obvious she’s one of my favorite movie characters of all time?