Roger Ebert, in his Great Films essay on La Strada, states:
"It is Quinn's performance that holds up best, because it is the simplest. Zampano is not much more intelligent than Gelsomina. Life has made him a brute and an outcast, with one dumb trick (breaking a chain by expanding his chest muscles), and a memorized line of patter that was perhaps supplied to him by a circus owner years before. His tragedy is that he loves Gelsomina and does not know it, and that is the central tragedy for many of Fellini's characters: They are always turning away from the warmth and safety of those who understand them, to seek restlessly in the barren world."
Fellini has given us a film about outcasts. How do the roles of these outcasts reflect on each other? Do you see any signs of redemption? Choose a character and examine how that character redeems him or herself and how that character is cinematically presented as an outcast by society. Be mindful of all of Fellini's symbolism! Do this in at least 3 paragraphs.
Due Wednesday, November 5
Although La Strada by Federico Fellini contains 3 different quirky, outcast type characters the character that I was most intrigued by was Zampano. While he is an unappealing, thieving and brutish character. Throughout the film he takes advantage of people, does a brutish/unintellectual circus trick and has seeming to redeeming qualities. He uses gelsomina to pose as his wife, by dragging the smiley Gelsomina around he appears as much more of a family man than he is. Thus he is using Gelsomina to his advantage. The Fool is basically Zampanos foil. While Zampano forces Gelsomina to stick with him The Fool persuades her with kindness, and then rejects her. Although they’re more similar than originally portrayed, because The Fool teases a very sensitive Gelsomina by calling her an “artichoke”.
ReplyDeleteIn the scenes throughout the film, Fellini uses symbolism to show the characters attempting to redeem themselves. In the scene where Zampano goes to jail, Gelsomina is left behind with Zampano's "house" and the open road. The motorcycle home represents freedom. Gelsomina could have taken the bike and ran far away, never to have to deal with Zampano's tricks again, but instead she feels obligated to rescue Zampano from jail. The motorcycle represented the redemption that Gelsomina could have had, but chose not to. Another symbol in this film is Gelsomina's trumpet. This represents Zampano's lack of faith in her. She had very little talent and Zampano did not appreciate it when she learned new skills.
Although the film does film with some slight redemption. A very dark redemption, but redemption none the less. Zampano over hears some women whistling Gelsominas tune. Then finds out about her death, through this he is over run by guilt or sadness. Then gets drunk and goes and cries on a beach. The final shot is of Zampano weeping next to the ocean, the ocean in this case is a symbol for an oppressive/overwhelming sense of sadness. And not hope and opportunity as in other movies (400 Blows cough cough Aidan). This is redeeming for Zampano because he is just so evil earlier in the movie that him feeling sad for Gelsomina is impressive for such a brutish specimen.
La Strada is a timeless example of romantic tragedy, how one man is so use to isolation that he can’t bring himself to accept someone who truly loves him until it is too late. While Zampino and Gelsomina are both tragic characters in their own respects, the outcast who stuck out most to me was The Fool. When we first meet the fool he is on a high-wire putting a show on for the people. This tells us a lot about him as well as how Gelsomina views him. All of the shots that contain the fool are long low angles, this shows his disconnect from the “normal” people on the ground looking up on him. Although he is the center of attention, he is isolated from everyone else. This isolation is evident through the shots of him dangling on his wire, dressed in white and well lit above the black mass of people below him. He is so enveloped in his act that he cannot form proper bonds with people outside of the spotlight. It is this refusal to come out of his act that gets the fool into so much trouble and is inevitable his downfall that leads to his death, he doesn’t know when to stop the joke. He doesn’t take life seriously and can’t help but to do things that he finds amusing, which he explains to Gelsomina when he claims he doesn’t know why he messes with Zampino, but it is as though he has to. It’s this care-free, joyous personality that draws Gelsomnia to the fool in the first place.
ReplyDeleteGoing back to the high-wire scene we see Gelsomnia as she literally looks up to the fool and admires him for the stunts he performs and the lifestyle he lives, however the long shots of the fool from what is suggested to be Gelsomnia’s point-of-view give this feeling that this dream of her’s to live like the fool is out of reach for her. And when she first gets to truly meet the fool, he shrugs her off with the same humor he does with every aspect of his life. It is only when he has a true moment of sincerity with Gelsomnia as he waits with her outside of the jail for Zampino that he redeems himself. The Fool persuades Gelsomnia to stay with Zampino as he walks off to continue his own life, it is through this conversation that the Fool becomes more of a person to Gelsomnia, he becomes a symbol. A symbol of a happy life, a symbol of humor, and most importantly a symbol of purpose as he tells her that even stones have a purpose in life. This is why Gelsomnia is so crushed when The Fool is killed as he took with him Gelsomnia’s hope that everything and everyone has a purpose, as the fool seemingly died without a purpose.
Zampano undergoes what is arguably the most drastic and important transformation across the length of La Starda by Frederico Fellini. This character is almost always unlikable, he is rude to everyone, a literal brute, and is distant even when someone offers him love. Through the eyes of Gelisomina, the audience develops a sort of tragic sympathy for Zampano. In the final scenes of the film, we get to see Zampano’s want for redemption, but at that point, it is too late.
ReplyDeleteZampano is truly an imposing character when he is on the screen. The camera is always placed a little lower than him to make the viewer feel small when they are watching him onscreen. His dialouge is often rash, brief, and simplistic, implying that he is of little intelligence. Sometimes, however, we see Zampano as a human being. I thought one shot that showed us the human side of Zampano the best was when Gelisomina put the blanket over his sghoul;ders as he slept. Finally, Zaqmpano is below the camera and not occpying the onscreen space. This time, it is Gelisomina who is standing literally above Zampano as she is displaying love for him, implying that the love she has is more powerful than his need for hate. But, this scene quickly turns sour as Zampano once again declares that he doesn’t care about Gelisomina. Usually when Zampano talks, it is quick and to the point and he does not stutter, but in this scene, he seems to stumble over his words of hate towards Gelisomina. After just seeing Zampano as such an outcast and a lost soul, it is shocking to the audience to see him become a brute so quickly. it almost feels unnatural which tells the audience that maybe Zampano’s personality, like his lifestyle, is just an act and that he really just wants to be loved.
This is all confirmed by the end of the film in which Zampano’s self-forced hate pushes him to drive away everyone in his life. Now, Zampano stands alone on the beach that earlier in the film, Gelisomina was so elated to see. This shot is truly the opposite of a scene earlier in the film. Zampano approaches it from an opposite direction than before and the scene is even filmed at night, whereas the previous scene was filmed during the day. this juxtaposition of lighting and framing serves to make the audience remember the beach from earlier on in the film and think back on Gelisomina, thus putting them in the mind of Zampano himself. Finally, Zampano gets to his knees and is at a high angle, implying that he has been defeated. His words say just as much as all he can do is utter Gelisomina’s name and cry at what hye has lost and the fact that he cannot be redeemed. It is indeed a sad ending to the film, but it’s also effective in portraying an extreme shift in character.
Within “La Strada”, the three main characters all show signs that they are outcasts to society. Zampanó, Gelsomina, and Il Matto (the Fool), are all connected on the same road (or strada), and they all are a part of the circus. Throughout their journey, their interactions with each other allows us to understand more about them and how exactly they feel. Fellini is also able to create meaning behind the characters with several cinematic techniques.
ReplyDeleteThe Fool is a key character within the entire situation. He is, in a way, more of an outcast than Gelsomina and Zampanó. The energy that he brings to the mix changes the entire mood, mainly because he acts very goofy and out of sync with Zampanó. After, all his name is the Fool. He creates a chaotic and negative feelingwhen he is interacting with Zampanó, and a positive and happy feeling when with Gelsomina. About 50 minutes into the film, when Zampanó is performing his usual act, the Fool doesn’t fit in the moment he walks in. He sort of acts like a class clown, constantly making jokes and acting funny so that he feels more confident. And we are able to see how vulnerable Zampanó actually is, even though he poses as a strong, tough man. The Fool doesn’t really commit sinful acts within the film, such as murder, he just antagonizes Zampanó and makes him look bad. He is mainly concerned with Gelsomina, and he wants what's best for her. Maybe Il Matto's redemption, for the wrong things that he did to Zampanó, is motivating Gelsomina that she has a purpose in the world.
The interesting thing about the characters is that they still continue to feel lonely, even though they do have each other. Through the character’s actions, we can figure out what Fellini was intending to imply.