I found him tragically fallen from his perch in this most appropriate of situations.

La Strada is a oddly captivating fable that leaves pieces of itself in my dreams. Anthony Quinn‘s brooding brute, Zampano, looming over the elfin waif, and the angel fool puts the pebble in place to bring about the tragic end. Fellini never overreaches, he just tells the story. Even the oddly dubbed Italian adds to the strange mix along with the sense of place imbued by shooting on location in rural Italy after the war. There is much bleakness and ruin shot in black and white, beautifully and mercilessly  mundane. On this backdrop the tale shines starkly.