This blog is being posted me, Elise Krepcho. I'll be posting my own movie reviews on here periodically as I couldn't just sit and watch Keith have all the fun! So here we go, my first movie review:
Last night, Keith and I watched Le Nottie di Cabiria or Nights of Cabiria by Blizzard's suggestion. It was directed by Fedrico Fellini and stars the very talented Guiletta Musina who is also Fellini's wife. Before watching this masterpiece, it was suggested that we not read much about it (which I hardly ever do- but which Keith usually does), I was glad that I didn't because if I had, I feel like I would have been able to guess the outcome. The movie itself gives the viewer an unseen portrait of the less-romantic Italian night life. We get glimpses of the seedy Roman underground which apparently is full of screaming, yelling, fighting and jealousy.
Nights of Cabiria is about a Roman prostitute and her struggle to find true love and decency in her world. Despite choosing a career of prostitution and living a life that denotes this type of lifestyle, Cabiria has her own little house- in the ghetto- which she owns by the end of the picture, a bank account which holds over $40,000 lire and a boyfriend whom she claims loves her. It is not until the money is stolen and she almost drowns that Cabiria realizes that she wants to change. She wanders the streets at night and during the day looking for someone or something that will change her life. She meets a famous movie star who sweeps her up in his convertible, takes her dancing to a classy night club and then back to his house only to lock her in the bathroom when his angry ex girlfriend shows up for a surprise visit. She also meets a man who carries around a sack of everyday necessities visiting the extremely poor who live in caves. Among these, Cabiria finds an old Madamme friend named "Bomba" who was robbed of her treasures including her famous beauty and charm. Fellini must have used this scene as a remind of the fate that lies in Cabiria's future if her life does not change.
The signature Felliniesque scene happens when Cabiria and a group of her friends/prostitutes take their crippled uncle (who used to sell Cocaine and Pimp out women) on a pilgrimage to see "La Moadonna del Divino Amore" the Madonna of Divine Love, in hopes that he will be healed. During this pilgrimage, the prostitutes are seen side by side with nuns, priests, cripples as well as the rich and the general public- as if Fellini were saying that we all need some sort of miracle-all are equal when it comes to the needs of our hearts and spirituality. While there, Cabiria asks the Madonna to help her change and then asks her to make her change, knowing she couldn't do it by her own merit- she wanted a new life, something to get her out of the rut she was in.
Musina's range of emotion is exquisitely portrayed throughout the whole of the film, at times she can be so very Charlie Chaplain and at other times, the picture of grace. During one scene, her prideful, rude, untrusting exterior is penetrated by a magician who, under the power of hypnosis, causes Cabiria to express her true devotion to an imaginary lover. It is after this moving scene -which was performed on a stage- that an accountant in the crowd woos Cabiria into trusting and eventually loving him.
I have never felt for a character the way I felt for Cabiria. I would be entertained by her, angry at her and empathetic toward her all within a single scene. I wanted her to get out of her life, I saw what she had to offer, even if at times it was obnoxious and cold. She is a character who I feel exists in each woman. Women, as anti-feminist as this may sound, need the love of a man. Cabiria's career choice itself is proof of her need of affection and love in some regard, even if it only gained her monetary success, which she forsook in the end in hopes for a chance at true love.
For What it's Worth rating: GO GET IT! it's on DVD now.
Here is a link to the trailer.
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