La strada (1954), the film Fellini called “the complete catalogue of my entire mythological world,”
is a starring vehicle for wife Giulietta Masina as Gelsomina, a
clownish waif who communicates best with nature and children. Sold by
her mother to Zampanò (Anthony Quinn), a travelling circus strongman,
she accompanies his act on trumpet. They are joined by the Fool (Richard
Basehart), who walks a tightrope high over provincial squares. When
brutish Zampanò accidentally kills the Fool, Gelsomina goes mad and
eventually dies. News of her death wrings tears from Zampanò at film’s
end. The first entry in what Bondanella deems the “trilogy of salvation
or grace,” these figures derive meaning from their emotional impact and
symbolic significance, not their material circumstances. Gelsomina and
Zampanò play out the grim relations between the sexes, a vagabond
version of “Beauty and the Beast,” and the roles of “savior” and
“convert.” So much so that Fellini was savaged by the Left for betraying
his neorealist origins.
