La Strada follows a circus performer, the strongman Zampano, and his assistant Gelsomina, whom he buys from her poor widowed mother. Together, they embark on a journey and end up joining an itinerant circus. There, Gelsomina meets a high-wire artist known as the “Fool.” The two develop feelings for each other, but Zampano becomes enraged and filled with jealousy.
Dir. Federico FELLINI
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Recommendation
Fellini’s La Strada is perhaps not the most intuitive choice for a programme about love and romance. The story of starry-eyed Gelsomina being sold to Zampanò, a circus strongman, in postwar Italy does not seem to fit the bill of a movie date. Zampanò is brute who is inconsiderate most of the time and cruel on his worst days. Gelsomina is kind-hearted and sees the goodness in the hearts of people. The uneasy dynamic shifts when she meets The Fool, a whimsical clown who shows her there’s more to life than suffering. Beneath the humour and violence, Fellini crafted a masterpiece that shows us even a life bound by pain can find redemption in love. And if your date was not moved to tears by the end of this film, I’m sorry, you may be dating a rock that is harder than Zampanò.
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LO Kin Cheong
LO spent his formative years in Macau before moving to Texas, where he founded the independent publication “Film Monitor”. After relocating back to Asia, he served as the English Editor at the Hong Kong Film Archive while he curated programs at Cinematheque Passion in Macau.