La Strada – Das Lied der Straße

The village girl Gelsomina is sold to the crude fairground artist Zampano. Although he treats her badly, she is in love with him. It is only when she meets the clown Matto at a small circus that her eyes are opened...A fairytale-like, poetic film by Federico Fellini, an absolute highlight of Italian neorealism. Silver Lion Venice 1954, Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film 1956.


For a few thousand lire, the rough power artist Zampano buys the girl Gelsomina from her mother so that he has an assistant for his travelling performances. Gelsomina is as young as she is good-natured and tries in vain to get on well with Zampano, who regards her as his property. At a circus, she meets the tightrope walker Matto, whom she befriends. Shortly afterwards, Matto gets into a fight with Zampano and is beaten to death by him. As Gelsomina is unable to cope emotionally with Matto's death, Zampano leaves her alone at the side of the road. Years later, when he accidentally learns of her death, he is overwhelmed by a feeling of loneliness and grief. A fairytale-like, poetic film by Federico Fellini, which represents both the climax and the overcoming of Italian neorealism. Instead of focusing explicitly on social problems, the film deals with human emotions such as joy, suffering, love and grief, making it open to interpretation from a human, social and Christian point of view. The film, in which the landscape provides a congenial backdrop for the bleakness of the plot, draws a large part of its immense power from the performances of the two leading actors: just like Giulietta Masina as a naive and sensual dreamer, Anthony Quinn also remains unforgettable as an uncouth strongman.

Silver Lion Venice 1954,
Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film 1956.