Nights of Cabiria

Movie Information

Classic World Cinema by Courtyard Gallery will present Nights of Cabiria at 8 p.m. Friday, April 1, at Phil Mechanic Studios (109 Roberts St., River Arts District, upstairs in the Railroad Library). Info: 273-3332, www.ashevillecourtyard.com
Score:
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Genre: Drama
Director: Federico Fellini
Starring: Giulietta Masina, Francois Perier, Franca Marzi, Dorian Gray, Aldo Silvani
Rated: NR

Federico Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria (1957) isn’t one of the filmmaker’s best known works—probably because the film is something of a transitional piece. It might be seen as the bridge from the filmmaker’s neo-realist beginnings to the more fanciful, mature Fellini that would be promised by La Dolce Vita (1960) and arrive fully formed with 8 1/2 (1963). That, however, doesn’t mean that Nights of Cabiria is without its own qualities and merits. Its heroine, Cabiria (Giulietta Masina in a performance based on Chaplin) is a waif-like prostitute. She’s naive—insisting on believing in the possibility of love and redemption (something that can also be said of Chaplin’s Little Tramp)—but she’s not sentimentalized in the typical Hollywood manner. It is definitely a Fellini film that ought to be better known than it is.

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About Ken Hanke
Head film critic for Mountain Xpress from December 2000 until his death in June 2016. Author of books "Ken Russell's Films," "Charlie Chan at the Movies," "A Critical Guide to Horror Film Series," "Tim Burton: An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker."

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