A.K.A. The Road
If I were to make a list of movie characters that need to be protected at all costs, Gelsomina would probably land in my top ten. She's the picture of innocence, childlike wonder, and heartbreaking despair (with an unspoken depth that's incredibly moving, in a Forrest Gump kinda way), and Giulietta Masina perfectly captures these qualities through her diminutive size and broad facial expressions.
She's really the ideal protagonist through which Federico Fellini (my first movie of his, by the way) can tell this touching and delicate tale of two lonely souls who desperately need love in their lives. It's simply impossible to watch this woman and not feel for her, and she also makes a perfect foil for Zampanò, whose all-consuming anger lies at the exact opposite end of the emotional spectrum.
You'd think their inability to connect would get a bit tiresome after a while, but, between the dire, isolating tone and the fact that both individuals are so pathetic and damaged, I remained curious as to whether they'd make the realization. And despite the fact that he's otherwise basically irredeemable, seeing Zampanò get there too late is enough to turn him into an equally tragic figure in my eyes.
Grade: A
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