21. La Strada

While I was in college, I had a friend I worked with in the Mary Markley cafeteria who was as important to my film education as any of my professors. Any time I had a shift with him he had recommendations or DVDs for me to borrow, and we’d talk each others’ ears off during slow periods. I’d started to get interested in Fellini because of Martin Scorsese’s documentary My Voyage to Italy (which used to be one of my favorite things to put on at bedtime/a DVD menu I woke up to often), and he encouraged me to keep watching.

Sometimes there’s a moment from a film, or some aspect of the craft that sticks in my mind. But with La Strada, it was all about a story my friend told me during one shift when encouraging me to watch this movie.

Giulietta Masina was married to Federico Fellini and played Gelsomina in La Strada. The movie was beloved in Italy, and it was the kind of performance that an actor gets recognized for. They become that character in the minds of the audience.

One night Fellini and Masina were out together, and Masina’s purse was stolen. She wasn’t holding it at the time, so the thieves never directly saw her or Fellini. Some time that night, while rifling through its contents, they discovered whose purse it was.

The next day, the purse was returned to Masina. Nothing was missing. Inside was a note on a torn sheet of paper:

“Forgive us, Gelsomina.”

I’ve never been able to find another telling of that story, but that doesn’t bother me. When I think of this film, I think of the story, and being told the story, and the friendship and the joy of deepening my love for watching movies.

Whether or not those events happened in exactly that way, it’s still a good story. And it’s a story that does no one any harm, regardless.

Because we love a good story, and we love a story that makes us feel something. Fiction doesn’t always tell the truth, but it should be honest.

And I find it hard to watch this film and not believe that Gelsomina could soften the hardest heart.