Screens

This Academy Award-winner sealed Fellini’s reputation as a director of international renown. La Strada represents a fertile cross-pollination of Fellini’s noted tendencies toward both stark neorealism and symbolic expressionism. It stars Masina in one of her most memorable roles as the simple naïf, who is bought for a bowl of food by a roadshow strongman (Quinn) who treats her brutishly. An overwhelming humanism underscores the whole film and leaves its ultimate meaning up to interpretation.