BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

delightful-life Cabiria is a prostitute in her 30s. Short and not as pretty as her colleagues either. She lost her parents when she was little so she was never educated or cultured and you can see all this in her character.The first scene shows her being pushed into a river by her boyfriend (pimp too I guess) who just wants to steal her handbag. She gets rescued by some kids and some local people but when she wakes up she absolutely doesn't care about them and is very rude and bad to them. She has had such a hard life, a life where people just use her, a life of no love or respect that most of her mind is just callous.But as we spend time with her, we slowly see that, just like anybody, she too just wants to be loved. But its subtle. She has been burned so many many times that trust is 'extremely' difficult for her.By the end of the movie, we will fall in love with her. You just want to hug her close, kiss her and tell her that she is truly loved for who she and that she will not be harmed. That is how good the acting by Giulietta Masina is (the story too). She has the most expressive eyes that I have seen on screen. If she was in Hollywood, she may have been one of the greatest actresses of all times! This movie is also not for everyone. Its a sort of slice-of-life of just one person, so it doesn't have a conclusive ending. Its not a, she lived happily ever after or she died or she achieved that, kind of movie. And you really need to be older, seen pain, understood the meaning of loneliness, what society is, what people want, etc., to see the heart and reason behind everything.Movie is on the levels of Tokyo Story, so do see it.

lasttimeisaw NIGHTS OF CABIRIA, Fellini sixth feature film, which marks that he has assertively reached the full- blown phrase in his creativity and sleight-of-hand at the age of 37, and anticipates the acme of his career, LA VOLCE VITA (1960) and 8 AND A HALF (1963). The story (with Pasolini inside the coterie as a collaborator), is a tale of woe about a roadside streetwalker Cabiria (Masina) in Rome, whose real name is Maria Ceccarelli.In the opening long shot, we see Cabiria gambols with his beau on a Sunny day in the field near a river, and quick as lightning, he grabs her handbag and pushes her into the water. Cabiria is almost drowned, the same course of events will (almost) replicate itself in the arresting culmination, this time, with another suitor, a well-groomed but greasy self-claimed accountant Oscar (Périer). Why Cabiria hasn't learn anything from her miseries? It is much easier to shoot out pointers in post- mortem, in fact, as we audience follows closely to these non-interrelated episodes of Cabiria's experiences, her wretched destiny doesn't strike more like a subjectively injudicious decision than a fusillade of flak targeting at the injustice of contemporary society and the worst of human vice.Cabiria is petite, petulant and starry-eyed, apart from a narrow escape from death thanks to her dastard boyfriend, she is perfectly content in her own achievement, her self-reliant means of earning secures her a house of her own and some savings in the bank, even during her serendipitous "one-night-stand" with a famous movie star, Alberto Lazzari (Nazzari in his Erroyl Flynn suaveness), in his palatial villa, she is not ashamed of her bog-standard house. Only when she peers from the keyhole of the star's bathroom when Alberto romantically reconciles with his trophy girlfriend Jessy (Gray), she realises there is something missing in her life.A pilgrimage with other working girls jolts her out of her hard earned fulfilment, she transforms from a non-believer to a devotee, daydreams a miracle will bestow on her. After religious epiphany, next in line is prestidigitation, Fellini cunningly alludes to the collusion between them, religion seduces a simple soul and illusion brings her the undoing. In the hypnotic performance, a cynical Cabiria unwittingly reveals herself, the inner child, a love-longing Maria Ceccarelli, which instigates Oscar, a spectator in the audience to conspire his act. Since manifestly Cabiria is not an accomplice of the magician (Silvani), then her state-of-hypnosis is indeed real, which is boldly against the common savvy, and can be perceived as a further tactic to turn realness-and-illusion topsy-turvy, with the sudden arrival of a Prince Charming, willing to marry her and doesn't want to know anything about her past, only with an ulterior motive.Giulietta Masina, what can I say, such a godsend to her hubby, a force of nature can effortlessly entice a viewer to vicariously discern and undergo her character's emotional trajectory, all the more she provoke immense sympathy along the way, the suspense-heightened final revelation is so gut-wrenching to watch yet it is completely captivating and emotive (bolstered by Nino Rota's sublimely emotionally manipulative score). What a triumphant performance, Cannes' BEST ACTRESS honour has never been so worthy!NIGHTS OF CABIRIA won BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE PICTURE in the Oscar race, a consecutive second win for Fellini after LA STRADA (1954), unlike its tragic protagonist Gesumina, also played by Masina, who succumbs to the hardship and abandonment, in the coda, Cabiria manages to squeeze a smile through her tears with a parade of people singing and dancing around her, like a phoenix back from the ash, the message is uplifting, she may be homeless and penniless, but she has a true friend Wanda (an ace Marzi, in her very naturalistic mien) to rely on, she can go on working the next day and start every from the scratch, what can not kill you only makes you stronger, girl! Such a potent feminism manifesto, one might not expect it from a Fellini's creation.

ElMaruecan82 Like Maria Falconetti in "The Passion of Joan of Arc", Meryl Streep in "Sophie's Choice" or Gena Rowlands in "A Woman Under the Influence", Guiletta Masina in "Nights of Cabiria" displayed, with a poignant authenticity, the courage to overcome the adversity underlining her vulnerable condition.Coincidentally, like Gena Rowlands with John Cassavettes, Masina was directed by her husband, Federico Fellini. And I believe this is the key of intimacy that liberates the actress in front of the camera and allows her to express every single emotion with intensity, and no fear of being over-the-top, the man behind the camera takes care of everything. And "Intense" to describe Guiletta Masina's performance is an understatement, so is the very word "performance". Masina lives Cabiria, with an endearing generosity and universal appeal. Rarely have I felt so much empathy toward a character who happens to be a loud-mouth thirty something prostitute.Cabiria is introduced as a joyful woman living a passionate romance with Giorgio, she kisses him, embraces him, then he suddenly steals her purse and pushes her into the river, where she nearly drowns before being saved by a group of young men. The opening scene is intriguing by its setting, an industrial area far away from the city, and the broad daylight, and its cheerful tone followed by a tragic twist, then an optimistic resolution. Basically, after a first viewing, you simply realize how the first minutes, in their tragicomic aspect; represent the movie in microcosm. But the emotional trap not to fall in is to consider Cabiria as a pathetic woman on which bad luck keep going on, Fellini's film is the chronicles of a series of misfortunes punctuated with optimistic statements about human nature, and it's up to the viewer, to Cabiria, to see the half-filled or half-empty glass.Cabiria's surprisingly ungrateful reaction after she's rescued is another indication of her unique temperament. She trusts any bad intentioned smooth-talking Don Juan over any genuinely caring person. In the following scene, her best friend Wanda seems very concerned and friendly before being harshly dismissed. Cabiria has the sweetness and the temper of a child, and her tragedy is that she never displays the right reactions at the right time, making the general mood of the film fascinatingly unpredictable. Cabiria never misses an occasion to dance, with her unique charisma; she steals the show and creates an eccentric cheerful mood even inside the prostitute's circle. Her positive attitude is a personal way to rise herself above her condition. As she likes to remind everyone: she owns her house. She has an almost childish way to brag about the fact that she's not like any prostitute. Indeed, we never see her in activity, she embodies the condition of being a prostitute, disdained, insulted, taken advantage of, and her eternal suspicious attitude toward any sign of kindness is an unfortunate professional bias. Both tragic and comic, Cabiria reminded me of two classic movies notorious for having inspired Fellini.Cabiria's appearance is almost comical, she's short but doesn't embarrass herself with high heels, instead she has these white socks worn with very unlikely sandals, and eyebrows a la Mickey Mouse. During the Mambo part, every eyes stare at her. She dances and moves a bit like Chaplin in "Modern Times", Cabiria is a sort of female clown with the right mix of pathos and burlesque, the Tramp with the umbrella as cane-like accessory. And when she gets in the beautiful house of the rich movie star, and he starts developing a fondness on her, we expect a disillusion to come, like the Tramp with the Rich Man in "City lights". Mickey Mouse or Charlie Chaplin, Cabiria is the female incarnation of the universally appealing figure of "little fellow who does his best" in a quite hostile world. The music of Nino Rota embodies the playful mood of Cabiria's misadventures until the sense of urgency in her quest of a new life started to remind of another masterpiece: De Sica's "Bicycle Thieves". Like the new bicycle changed Ricci's life, a new love would transform Cabiria, and the desperation growing deeper and stronger as indicated in that scene where she joins the pilgrims and asks the Virgin Mary to change her life, was a powerful reminiscence of Ricci visiting the Wise Woman.This is the dilemma that inhabits "Nights of Cabiria", romantic or realistic. When after having been so mistreated during a magic show Cabiria was approached by the kind accountant Oscar, played by François Périer, I wanted her to keep her guard up. And as he seemed genuinely in love, convincing her after several meetings, to marry him, and leave everything for him, my heart pounded as I was expecting the worst to happen. And then came the climactic scene in the cliff when Cabiria understood Oscar's dark motives, just like Giorgio's, and she started sobbing, my heart literally melted. Cabiria is the quintessential romantic person, in the denial of the world's reality, and the pain in her heart, was her realization that the vision she always tries to reject was true. But she pulled herself together, started walking when a group of happy young people dancing and playing music formed a cheerful parade around her. This was the "City Lights"-like ending the movie needed: the ultimate triumph of the faith in human spirit. Cabiria is like reborn in this scene, her eyebrows are natural, her smile genuine, her wounds healed, as she feels in security again, hence her quick glance at Fellini, behind the camera, or was she simply thanking us, viewers, for loving her?Kabir' means 'big' or 'powerful' in Arabic, and I wouldn't be surprised, if the name was a derivation from that Semitic epithet. Cabiria is a character defined by a personality that transcends the limits of her tiny little body. Size-wise, she's everything but Cabiria, street-wise, she has one hell of a big mouth and as a human being, her heart is simply gigantic

Yara Saeed This is the very first time I see an Italian movie, and I loved it! This was very adorable movie. It was a nice journey, that I am glad I took. The movie was produced in 1957, set in the beautiful city of Rome and directed and co-written by Frederico Fellini.The story of the movie is about a pretty crazy prostitute who we join in her journey of life, she looks for love and salvation. It's funny and true. She is an optimist who sings, dances and swears a lot.The idea is really nice, I don't know how often was a prostitute's story shown in a movie in the 1950's, but it's defiantly an interesting idea. Let's see what I loved, I loved how open minded and independent was Cabiria (main character) in the movie, she owned her own house and was so proud of it. She wasn't looking for marriage as much as love.She wanted to change her life and didn't accept just how things were.I also enjoyed how although she went to church and asked for grace from virgin Mary, nothing changed in her life, because she kept it as it.I thought the directing was very good, it kept me interested and enjoying the movie. I loved the scenery and acting of all actors. It was fun, lots of fun, even the soundtrack is fun, please listen to itMy favorite scene involved Cabiria hypnotized and revealing here true innocence in front of many people on stage.I still had few comments that I didn't like, when she met a father in the church, he told her you must get married, it's women's duty to have children and be wives, that was a little lame. And it made me feel as if its sending a message that those who want to be independent, must be bad and that they should go back to their "natural" duties. Also it kinda made me sad that although she such an optimist, things never turned out right for her. I absolutely loved the ending scene, brought a smile back to my face.At the end, I would recommend the movie and would say it's very enjoyable. Oh, almost forgot that the Italian language is awesome, extremely lovely to hear. Definitely worth of being on the top 250 list.its-lalas-land.blogspot.com