60 years ago Oscar to The road by Federico Fellini

60 years ago Oscar to The road by Federico Fellini

On March 27, 1957 the film The road by Federico Fellini won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

The award ceremony of the 29th Annual Academy Awards held in Los Angeles. At RKO Pantages Theater, conducted by actor comedian Jerry Lewis.

The film was premiered at the Venice Film Festival 1954, where it won the Silver Lion. In 1955 it won the Silver Ribbon for Best Director and Producer of the best film.

The road is the film with which Fellini became popular on the international scene.

Synopsis

Zampanò is a crude wanderer. He crosses the poorest countries in the central Apennine of Italy performing improbable feats of strength. Gelsomina, fragile girl and maimed, replaces her sister, died suddenly, as a traveling companion and work of the rough Zampanò. She was matched by this ragged artist in order to learn a trade.

Gelsomina is dragged by the man as a dog. She meets a young acrobat, defined by all "the fool". He teaches her that all things of this world have their own importance, and convinces her to come back to Zampanò and groped to soften his surly mood. A few days later Zampanò, always in bad relations with the acrobat, accidentally killed him during a scuffle. He gets rid of the body throwing it under a bridge, but Gelsomina attends the scene. She is deeply troubled from happening and begins to show signs of mental disorders. After taking care of the girl for a short period, Zampanò decides to abandon her along a deserted road. Continues alone to roam Italy. A few years later the man becomes aware of the death of Gelsomina. Plagued by guilt begins to cry, alone and saddened, by the sea.

Cast

Anthony Quinn, Mexican-born American actor, when he played in The road had already held many films. He had already won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 1953 for the Eufemio Zapata performance in the film Viva Zapata! (Directed by Elia Kazan, with Marlon Brando).

He won a second Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1957 for the interpretation of the painter Paul Gauguin in Lust for Life directed by Vincente Minnelli.

Giulietta Masina had worked at the cinema for some important directors, from Rossellini to Lattuada, but The road is the film that gives her the fame at the international level.

1957 is her lucky year. He also won the Cannes Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival and the Silver Shell for Best Actress at the International Festival of Cinema of San Sebastián; both for the film Nights of Cabiria.

The fool was played by American actor Richard Basehart.

The beautiful music is composed by Nino Rota.

The film was produced by Dino De Laurentis after numerous difficulties faced by the director to find a manufacturer.

Locations

It's a road trip through many places of central Italy. The regions involved in the shooting are Lazio, Abruzzo and Emilia Romagna: among the towns Bagnoregio, Fiumicino, Rocca di Mezzo, Ovindoli, Cervia and the Castelli Romani.

Criticism

A christian parable about sin, fable about the human condition in general and women in particular. It is also a picaresque excursion through the central Apennines landscapes. Masks rather than real characters of this tale on the road, Zampano by Quinn and Gelsomina by Masina ....... became symbols (Morandini)

The charm of the images remains intact even today. The soundtrack of Nino Rota has never been more poignant. The character of the fool, who appeared the least happy, bought a totally unexpected dimension. (Farinotti)

The sincere and modest tone with which Fellini, at the end of neo-realism, portrays characters who are nothing if not their world, it continues to strike the viewer and you have to be of stone not to be moved (Mereghetti)

Trailer