Nights of Cabiria (Le notti di Cabiria) |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Federico Fellini |
Produced by | Dino De Laurentiis |
Screenplay by | Federico Fellini Ennio Flaiano Tullio Pinelli Pier Paolo Pasolini |
Story by | Federico Fellini |
Starring | |
Music by | Bonagura Nino Rota |
Cinematography |
Aldo Tonti Otello Martelli |
Edited by | Leo Cattozzo |
Distributed by |
Paramount Pictures (Italy) Les Films Marceau (France) Lopert Pictures Corporation (US) |
Release date
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Running time
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118 minutes |
Country | Italy France |
Language | Italian |
Nights of Cabiria (Italian: Le notti di Cabiria) is a 1957 Italian drama film directed by Federico Fellini and starring Giulietta Masina, François Périer, and Amedeo Nazzari. Based on a story by Fellini, the film is about a prostitute in Rome who searches for true love in vain.
Nights of Cabiria won the 1957 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. This was the second straight year Italy and Fellini won this Academy Award, having won for 1956's La Strada, which also starred Giulietta Masina.
A happy, laughing Cabiria (Giulietta Masina) is standing on a river bank with her current boyfriend and live-in lover, Giorgio (Franco Fabrizi). Suddenly he pushes her into the river and steals her purse which is full of money. She cannot swim and nearly drowns, but is rescued by a group of young boys and revived at the last possible moment by helpful ordinary people who live a little further down the river. In spite of just saving her life, she treats them with disdain and starts looking for Giorgio.
Cabiria returns to her small home, but Giorgio has disappeared. She is bitter, and when her best friend and neighbor, Wanda (Franca Marzi) tries to help her get over him, Cabiria shoos her away and remains disgruntled. She continues to ply her trade as a prostitute. One night, she is outside a fancy nightclub and witnesses a fight between famous movie star, Alberto Lazzari (Amedeo Nazzari) and his girlfriend, as she dumps him. The differences in appearance between the glamorous girlfriend, in a mink coat, and the disheveled and short Cabiria are stark. The jilted Lazzari takes the starstruck Cabiria to another club and then to his house, where Cabiria is astounded by its opulence. As the two are finally becoming closer after a rather standoffish few hours, Lazzari's girlfriend returns and Cabiria is shuffled off to the bathroom, unable to consummate with the movie star.