Strada [The Road] (1954)

RATING:	100%
FORMAT:	DVD

(Image: http://blueduck.egloos.com/)

Giulietta MASINA, the greatest tragi-comic actress of them all, stars in this superlative tragi-comedy. Part Harpo Marx, part Stan Laurel & part Charlie Chaplin, she brilliantly essays the role of an unworldly naïf as a mixture of child woman and pixie. Her emotionally-expressive, clown like acting serves the drama well as she appears alternately pathetic and profoundly spiritual in a film that is as much about performing in our everyday lives as it is about those who make a living from being performers.

Richard BASEHART and Anthony QUINN are also excellent as men who either recognize the faults in others because they do so in themselves or as those who refuse to see faults in others to avoid seeing their own.

(Image: http://blueduck.egloos.com/)

This humanist masterpiece has few equals, especially with the sheer simplicity of its plotline; offering few distractions from the movie’s central premise that includes sexual jealousy, Christian spirituality & alcoholism.

The central couple are crucially-dependent upon one another, yet the male half refuses to recognize this and so is physically abusive; the female half accepts it as part of her lot in life - with tragic results.

In this tale of the growing pains of a young woman, we are finally confronted with the impossibility of ever evading the human conscience, since it is in everything we do, no matter how tough we think you are.

Nino Rota’s score – as usual – perfectly complements and underpins the emotions depicted by the actors.

Copyright © 2009 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.