Nights of Cabiria Post

Fellini tells the story of a “hooker with a heart of gold” in Nights of Cabiria without the stereotypical happy ending. It begins with her being thrown in the river and ends with her almost meeting the same fate. Both incidents are at the hands of her would-be saviors from a life of prostitution, and in both incidents they prove to be cads out to steal her money. As an Italian film, the gestures of the actors and dialogue are emotion filled. Much of the story is shown through Cabiria’s expressive face in close-up shots of her emotional journey. One could almost follow the story-line even without subtitles. Guilietta Masina gives life to Cabiria through her face and her physicality. The viewer knows who and what she is without having to be explicit about it. She is approaching the end of her days as a party girl and wants nothing more than to find the man of her dreams and have a “normal” life and we are led to believe that it is going to happen for her; unfortunately, it is not to be and her pain is very visible in her face as she realizes that. At first glance the ending seems to be very sad but it can be said that it is a testament to Cabiria’s resilience that she gets up, dusts herself off, and begins to walk back to the world she left.

The story is told within the confines of one small area on the outskirts of Rome, as if to signify Cabiria’s small world.  Her days and nights are shown to consist of her small house, group of friends, and her profession is alluded to without being expressly shown. She only ventures out to attend the mass and when she meets the famous actor, both events end in disappointment so she returns to the little house she holds so dearly. It is a source of pride for her that she does in fact, own a home, and has not found herself living among the people of the caves. Though it is perhaps, foreshadowing that she happens upon the man taking supplies to those that are, as if to show that is where she is headed.  As viewers we want a happy ending to this type of story, we have become invested in her as she has shown her emotion so eloquently throughout the film. Sadly, Fellini does not allow her that, though it is telling that she does not die at the conclusion of the film.

Cabiria wants her life to end when she realizes Oscar is just another unscrupulous thief and as she gives him the sum total of her net worth she begs for him to end her misery. She cannot face going back to the life of street hustling, now homeless, and humiliated. Had Fellini ended the film that way though, I believe it would not have stood the test of time. Cabiria rising among the ashes of her dreams to face her future and looking at the young people celebrating with a wiser eye, reminds us that as long as there is life there is hope.

Jessica Davis, Group 2