The nights of the Cabiria
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The nights of the Cabiria |
| Original title | Le notti di Cabiria |
| Country of production | Italy , France |
| original language | Italian |
| Publishing year | 1957 |
| length | 111 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Federico Fellini |
| script | Federico Fellini Ennio Flaiano Tullio Pinelli Pier Paolo Pasolini |
| production | Dino De Laurentiis |
| music | Nino Rota |
| camera | Aldo Tonti |
| cut | Leo Cattozzo |
| occupation | |
| |
The nights of Cabiria (original title: Le notti di Cabiria ) is a feature film by the Italian director Federico Fellini from 1957. The drama focuses on a Roman prostitute (played by Fellini's wife Giulietta Masina ), who despite disappointments and humiliations from men does not want to give up their naive hope for love and happiness. Thematically, Cabiria is an optimistic variation of the Gelsomina from Fellini's La Strada - Das Lied der Straße (1954), which was also embodied by Masina.
action
Maria Ceccarelli, called "Cabiria", is an inconspicuous, naive street girl from Rome who was abandoned by her pimp. This had taken advantage of her for months and then dumped into a river in order to get at her last savings. She then burns the memorabilia of him. Despite her life as a prostitute, the disappointments she experienced and the attempted murder, she firmly believes in happiness and love. Cabiria meets Alberto, who is having an argument with his girlfriend. The famous actor then takes the girl home, amused and as a stopgap. When Cabiria raises her hopes, however, Alberto's girlfriend returns and she has to spend the night in the bathroom. She goes on a pilgrimage to a Madonna with her professional colleagues and mentions to a Franciscan brother full of sadness that she does not feel part of God's grace.
In a suburban variety theater, Cabiria is put into a trance by a hypnotist in front of the cheering audience and in this state communicates her longing for love, security and trust. This is how she made the acquaintance of Oscar D'Onofrio. The man pretends to be a good employee and wants to marry Cabiria. Convinced that Oscar is the man of her dreams, she sells her shabby house to travel with him. When Cabiria realizes on a slope by the sea that she is being exploited again, she throws her bag of money at Oscar's feet, disappointed and frightened, and tosses desperately and screaming in the leaves and begs him to kill her. He takes the money and disappears. After this event, Cabiria returns to Rome. At night she meets a happy company there. Drawing new hope, she joins the people with a smile.
Reviews
The film service noted that in Cabiria “the almost painful and intense longing for purity, for humanity is immutable” . The dialogue with the Franciscan Brother is the "pivot of the film" . Fellini would like to show that “the grace of God is also in the unenlightened” . Despite the intense play by Giulietta Masina, Die Nights der Cabiria "was not quite as closed, as unassailable [...] as' La Strada" " . Reference was made to the pilgrimage sequence, which made an " unpleasant, almost hysterical impression on German cinema viewers “ Nevertheless, the jury of the International Catholic Film Office (OCIC) would have given Fellini's directorial work a special recommendation.
“The emptiness of my figures used to be filled with hopes and human realities. Cabiria succeeds in filling her emptiness with a reality that goes much deeper ” , says Federico Fellini. “The serenade at the end is human and life-giving grace. The film and Cabiria do not rule out that this grace full of humanity is the prelude to God's grace. But that rightly remains a secret of Cabiria in the film. "
According to Reclam's film guide, the title character is a relative of the Gelsomina from La Strada . Similarities would be the naivety, but Cabiria is "more active" and struggles - albeit with little success - for her luck. The film should be understood as a “homage to a poor man in spirit” and not as a social criticism. The profession of prostitute “should only be a metaphor for their external loneliness and humiliation”.
The US journalist Joshua Klein praised the film as a "classic" . Fellini does not turn Cabiria's story into a “pity story ” . "She is a strong, proud woman who fights and pulls herself up again after each setback and starts the march into a new, better life from the beginning."
A restored version of the film was released in the late 1990s, including a scene that fell victim to Italian censorship at the time. In this a good Samaritan ( "man with a bag" ) leads the title character to people who live in caves in the underground and are provided with food by him. The "mysterious" scene, understood as a religious allegation, was then removed from the film at the instigation of Roman Catholic authorities, according to US critic Janet Maslin ( The New York Times ), although there are many of them in the film.
Awards
In 1957, Giulietta Masina received the Actor Award at the Cannes International Film Festival , while Federico Fellini competed for the Palme d' Or, but lost out to the US production Alluring Temptation . In the same year Giulietta Masina was honored at the San Sebastián International Film Festival for Best Actress and Dino De Laurentiis with a David di Donatello for Best Production .
In 1958, the film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film , after Fellini's La Strada had triumphed the year before . The Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani , the association of Italian film journalists, honored The Nights of Cabiria with awards in the categories of Best Actress (Giulietta Masina), Best Director (Frederico Fellini), Best Production (Dino De Laurentiis) and Best Supporting Actress (Franca Marzi ) out.
In 1959, nominations for the British Film Academy Awards in the categories of Best Film and Best Foreign Actress (Giulietta Masina) and the CEC Award in the category of Best Foreign Film followed . In 1959 the film won the Catalan film prize Sant Jordi in the categories of Best Foreign Actress (Giulietta Masina), Best Foreign Director (Frederico Fellini), Best Foreign Film (Frederico Fellini) and Best Foreign Screenplay ( Ennio Flaiano , Tullio Pinelli, Pier Paolo Pasolini ).
Adaptations
The material of the film was processed by Neil Simon for the musical Sweet Charity in 1966 and performed on Broadway . In 1969 this was again filmed by Bob Fosse with Shirley MacLaine .
literature
- Federico Fellini : The nights of Cabiria. (Original title: "Le notti di Cabiria"). In: Federico Fellini: film scenarios. Volume 1: La Strada, The Nights of Cabiria, La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, Amarcord. Volk und Welt publishing house, Berlin 1983.
Web links
- Nights of Cabiria in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Nights of Cabiria at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. Review in: film-dienst , 43/1957.
- ↑ quoted from: film-dienst , 43/1957.
- ↑ see: Dieter Krusche: Reclams Filmführer. 13th, revised edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-15-010676-1 , p. 514.
- ↑ cf .: Joshua Klein: The nights of Cabiria. In: Steven Jay Schneider (Ed.): 1001 films. The best films of all time. 2nd Edition. Ed. Olms, Hombrechtikon / Zürch 2005, ISBN 3-283-00525-7 , p. 342.