‘Nights of Cabiria’ is a 1957 film directed by Federico Fellini, which belongs to the movement of Italian Neo-realism. However, this film is different in several aspects from other neo-realist films. Fellini has treated the subject and the style of the film in such a way that it becomes a wholly new interpretation of what neorealist cinema in Italy was. The aesthetic and practical principles of neorealism have received a novel interpretation by Fellini. The neorealist cinema in Italy began after the Second World War and the focus of the neorealist cinema was to capture the destitute lives of poor and working-class people. The neorealist movement in cinema made use of natural locations, non-actors, and poor and/or working-class subjects to portray life as realistically as possible. Moreover, neorealist films always bigger had moral, political, economic, social, and philosophical dimensions. This meant that the philosophy through which a given film was perceived superseded the subjects or the events it was the underlying philosophy that was the most significant. Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria diverges from the traditional form of neorealist cinema as it puts its focus on the internal life of the subjects instead of the external world. The film also has a certain optimistic quality that is severely lacking in most Italian neorealist cinema.
One of the defining characteristics of Italian neorealist cinema is that the social, economic, and political issues that WWII brought on are highlighted in the films. While, ‘Nights of Cabiria’ certainly engages some important social, economic, and political issues they are not the focus of the film. Rather the focus is placed on the characters and their personalities. By doing so, Fellini seems to suggest that the issues of the external world may be of significance but there is a whole world within a human being that remains unexplored if one is only to focus on the external and ignore the internal. However, this does not mean that Fellini completely ignores the concerns of neorealist cinema. In fact, in many scenes of the film, the action takes place in an open and barren field. The skyscrapers rising high in the background to the field pose a sharp contrast. Thus, through the use of symbolic landscape, Fellini integrates the socio-economic concerns of Italian neorealist cinema.
Moreover, the protagonist of the film, Cabiria, is a streetwalker belonging to the poor and working-class society that neorealist films portray. Fellini juxtaposes wealth and poverty through a personalized and subjective lens. Instead
of generalizing the assumption that poverty equals unhappiness and tragedy Fellini ventures in a different direction. Although Fellini makes insightful comments on the socio-economic adversities that the underprivileged communities face in his movie he also presents a counter-narrative. This counter-argument is best witnessed in the scene from Nights of Cabiria where Cabiria accompanies a famous actor to his home. There Cabiria remarks to him that even though she may not have a mansion full of luxuries like him she owned her place. Her own home had gas, electricity, and water, and these for her were enough luxuries. Therefore, the argument Fellini here makes is that being of a lower socio-economic class does not mean that the people are hopeless and destitute rather for many people their humble living is enough to give them great happiness and pride in life.
Another very important scene that comments on the ideas of hardship and poverty is the climax. Cabiria realizes that she has come full circle from where she began and Oscar, her fiancé, is someone who has only pretended to love her so that he could steal her money. Cabiria gives away her money to Oscar willingly. at the beginning of the scene, she expressed how long and how hard she had worked to get this money together. It was all of her life savings. Yet when she realizes that Oscar intends to betray her she offers up not only her money but also her life. This shows that regardless of economic status or social class love and personal relationships are the most important things for an individual. Moreover, Fellini’s approach to creating this scene is very different from the traditional approach to neorealist cinema. In a traditional neorealist film, Cabiria would have been pushed into the water once again and she would’ve drowned in a tragic ending. Yet Fellini refrains from doing that and instead creates an emotionally powerful scene of catharsis with a focus on subjective human suffering instead of collective suffering. Fellini, therefore, contradicts Bazin’s assumption that in neorealist cinema the subject is inseparable from their social setting. Once again Fellini puts the focus on the internal struggle of the character, not the larger social, economic, or moral ideas that govern society.
The positive optimism of Nights of Cabiria is one of the most fascinating aspects of the film as it is very different from other neorealist films. Most neorealist cinema is highly pessimistic and tragically disposed of as its focus is on highlighting the injustices of the world. However, Fellini focuses on the resilience of the people in overcoming the adversities of their external circumstances. The final scene of the film is one of the most poignant scenes in the
history of not only neorealist cinema but cinema itself. After Cabiria has once again lost all of her money, her house, and her possessions she walks in the night amongst strangers. This final scene by Fellini is a masterpiece of cinematic style. The events of the story of the film are such that this scene should be portrayed as being very tragic and pessimistic. However, as Cabiria walks along the path between the bamboo trees the people around her are greatly enjoying themselves. Some of them are singing, some dancing, some are playing music from different instruments, and some share their love with a partner. In the crowd surrounding Cabiria, many people are wearing party hats and it seems like they are coming from or headed to a party. It seems as if they are the party. A couple of people look at Cabiria, smile at her, and make sounds to cheer her up.
As the scene begins, Cabiria walks silently with a sad expression on her face. However, she never once walks with her head down or averts her gaze from the joyful scene around her. Rather she looks at the scene and the characters intently and as they urge her to cheer up she smiles back at them which shows her level of engagement with life, the world, and the people around her. Moreover, Fellini even breaks the fourth wall with this scene as Cabiria’s somber expression turns into a smile she looks directly at the camera as well. Thus, Cabiria is engaging the audience with her optimism as well. She is showing that regardless of the tragedy that surrounds you, and the bad things that happen to you, you should never lose hope and keep on smiling because the world is full of beautiful things and people as well.
In analyzing a scene from Bicycle Thieves Ayfre argues that the person who steals the bike exists concerning other members of the community. However, Fellini seems to contradict this idea as he shows that the most significant relationship is with themselves and the relationship with the external world comes second. As Cabiria has a strong relationship with herself she can smile once again even in the darkest of circumstances. Instead of being hopeless, despondent, and depressed, Cabiria remains open to new life and experiences. Cabiria might have lost all of her worldly possessions and her heart must have been badly broken yet her spirit remains joyful and hopeful. Cabiria has a resilient spirit and she is a master of overcoming the adversities of life and finding happiness in all situations and circumstances. Thus, the aesthetic, stylistic, practical, and production choices Fellini makes in the film Nights of Cabiria add a new dimension to Italian neorealist cinema.
To sum up, Fellini approaches the neorealist style from a different perspective. The aesthetic and stylistic techniques he uses in the film are different from traditional neo-realist approaches. Fellini shows that even if the circumstances of life may be hard one does not have to be a victim of their reality and external circumstances. Nights of Cabiria is different from other neorealist films in its optimism and aesthetic style.
Bibliography
Ayfre, Amedee. "Neo-realism and Phenomenology." In Cahiers du Cinema, by Jim Hiller, 182-91.
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Bazin, Andre. "An Aesthetic of Reality: Neorealism." In What is Cinema?, by Andre Bazin, 16-40. Los
Angeles: University of California Press, 2004.
Nigths of Cabiria. Directed by Federico Fellini. Performed by Giulietta Masina. 1957.