Federico Fellini’s masterpiece, La Strada, returns in a beautifully restored 2k version out to own on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Download June 19.
The film is just as mesmerising, emotionally wrenching and unique as when it was first released, so to celebrate this exciting newly restored version, we’ve collected together Fellini’s five greatest films.
La Strada (1954)
La Strada is loosely about a care-free girl (played y Giulietta Masina) who is sold to a traveling entertainer. However, it is far more interested in the historical backdrop of the story and building nuanced characters, and does so perfectly. The landscape is the blasted Italian environment just after WW2. This provides a realism and bleakness to the film, which in turns adds depth to an already tender and compassionate story, and launches it to the level of a masterpiece.
The Nights of Cabiria (1957)
The Nights of Cabiria follows a waifish prostitute who wanders the streets of Rome looking for true love but finds only heartbreak. Featuring another unforgettable collaboration with Fellini’s wife Giulietta Masina, this overlooked masterpiece is more restrained than his other best films but is largely distinguished by the power of and its sympathy for the main heroine. Fellini himself even once said that Cabiria was the character of his that he thought about the most. That’s as good a reason as any to go and check out this film right away.
La Dolce Vita (1960)
La Dolce Vita is one of the most celebrated films of all time, and for good reason. Fellini’s magnum opus has constant energy and vibrancy, as well as countless profound points on the decay of society and the tragedy of the over civilized. Beyond that, the performances are uniformly brilliant, from Mastroianni’s conflicted but fundamentally good Rubini to Furneaux’s possessive mistress. This is truly a must-see for anyone who claims to be a film buff.
8 ½ (1963)
8 ½ is about a harried movie director who retreats into his memories/fantasies and is undoubtedly one of the most potent depictions of filmmaking and director’s block ever put to screen. There is so much to say about this masterpiece but a central point is that it possesses a remarkably poetic quality, a visual fluidity and beauty that transforms even the most ordinary events into something slightly tinged by a dream-like quality.
Amarcord (1973)
Arguably Fellini’s most accessible and immediately entertaining film, Amarcord nonetheless and has a lot to unpack. Through a series of sketches, the picture presents a fascinating look at 1930s Italy under the control of Fascism and has much to say about the contradictory and seemingly random nature of memory. Perhaps its greatest asset though is its astonishing score – it is not a stretch to say that it is one of the greatest in the history of film.
La Strada returns to cinemas in a new digital restoration from 19 May 2017, followed by a new DVD/Blu-Ray/EST release from Studiocanal on 19 June.
