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 La Strada is in my opinion the best film ever made outside the US. Gulietta Massina's performance is unparalleled by any actress before or since. Anthony Quinn will astound with a deep performance. His ability to go from a brutish bully to a heartbroken man is incredible. Fellini was a rare genius. La Strada shows that he had has finger on the pulse of human emotions. Of course he is better known for his more flamboyant films, films that helped create the description "Felliniesque", but this early work shows a stripped down filmaker who had an incredible ability to tell a deeply personal story about human frailty. Simply the best movie I have seen.
To all of you out there who fears these old black and white classics: see this film! You will descover that colour does not only depend on the colour of the celluloid. |
This is possible one of the ten best films ever released but Criterion has botched it. The English titles are very hard to read and, at times, the English soundtrack, is mute - mouths move but no sound can be heard. At their high prices, Criterion never should have released this.
I agree with almost all of my fellow reviewers, that this is probably one of the greatest films ever made. Since DVD's came about, I've been writing letters to Criterion (the company which restored it), asking that "La Strada" be released (especially by them). First of all, the picture quality is 10 out of 10, it's wonderful. The original "Italian" audio track is a joy to my ear, from beginning to end. BUT....the "English" audio track seems to be flawed (at least with this, the first release). In the beginning of the film, when Gelsomina is introduced to Zampano, about 3:30 min into the film, until 4:04 min into the film, there is a complete loss of sound. And once again from 4:20 min into the film, until 4:35 min into the film, there is another complete loss of sound. From then on, the audio is flawless. I contacted Criterion about this problem, and I was advised that it was probably a bad copy, and to contact AMAZON for a replacement. I did this, and AMAZON sent out a new copy within 2 days. Unfortunately, the replacement disk was flawed in EXACTLY the same places on the "English" track. Please check YOUR copy, and if it IS flawed, please contact Criterion about it. I tried BOTH of my copies on THREE DIFFERENT DVD players, and it was SAME problem on each machine, and at the same times that I mentioned. What are the odds of that? I'm a HUGE fan of Criterion and their work, and I think it's just a bug that needs to be worked out. Other than that, their restoration is a jewel in my collection.
