Essential Arthouse: La Strada (1954)
A care-free girl is sold to a traveling entertainer, consequently enduring physical and emotional pain along the way. (NR, 108 min.)
Showtimes
Wednesday, December 17, 2025
7:00 PM
Essential Arthouse: This monthly series showcases “essential arthouse” films everyone should see on the big screen. Arthouse is a film genre which encompasses films where the content and style – often artistic or experimental – adhere with as little compromise as possible to the filmmakers’ personal artistic vision. This series is Free for Members.
There has never been a face quite like that of Giulietta Masina. Her husband, the legendary Federico Fellini, directs her as Gelsomina in La Strada, the film that launched them both to international stardom. Gelsomina is sold by her mother into the employ of Zampanò (Anthony Quinn), a brutal strongman in a traveling circus. When Zampanò encounters an old rival in highwire artist the Fool (Richard Basehart), his fury is provoked to its breaking point. With La Strada Fellini left behind the familiar signposts of Italian neorealism for a poetic fable of love and cruelty, evoking brilliant performances and winning the hearts of audiences and critics worldwide.
Starring: Giulietta Masina, Anthony Quinn, Richard Basehart
Director: Federico Fellini
Languages: Italian
Genre: Drama
"A landmark in Federico Fellini's career."
— Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
"Federico Fellini’s beautiful story of a woman."
— Brian Susbielles, InSession Film
"The great Giulietta Masina, who was Fellini's wife, is the heart and soul of La Strada."
— Loren King Newport, This Week (RI)
"The vitality of the Italian cinema is confirmed for us once again by this wonderful film of Federico Fellini's."
— André Bazin, Esprit
"A highly moving melodrama of love and passions portrayed in the Neo-realistic style of some Italian movies."
— Staff, Newsday
"It has simplicity of story, theme and production and it has a feeling for humanity that at times brings sharp tears to the eyes."
— Harold Whitehead, Montreal Gazette
"It holds its own, more than six decades on. If Giulietta Masina and Anthony Quinn's tragic two-step doesn't break your heart, then Nino Rota's score will."
— Tara Brady, Irish Times
"It was made for those who love the unusual in pictures, and who like to have their imaginations set to work by sensitive acting, direction and camera glories."
— Marjory Adams, Boston Globe
"This is an extraordinary film, a fierce tragedy but one which, for all its relentless realism, can be tender, pathetic, and, finally, touched with hope. It is a film which must not be missed."
— Staff, Guardian
"Anthony Quinn as the strong man and Richard Basehart as a derisive rival are excellent. As the girl, Giulietta Masina is extraordinarily touching and gives a performance hard to forget."
— Staff, Newsweek
"Anthony Quinn gives a devastating performance as a man who has no heart or time for kindness until too late. He dominates the screen in compelling and completely capable fashion. What an actor he is!"
— Mae Tinee, Chicago Tribune
"La Strada, which means 'The Road,' will have as much meaning 100 years from now as it does today when it serves to rank its author-director Federico Fellini with Rossellini and De Sica as creative talents of the Italian cinema."
— Helen Bower, Detroit Free Press
"Simple beauty is such a rare quality in films these days, when serious filmmakers everywhere seem to be turning to harshness and protest, that the tender humanity and compassion of this absorbing drama from Italy shine all the stronger."
— SMH Staff, Sydney Morning Herald
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