Les Nuits de Cabiria

Se plaindre de ce qu'un film italien racontant les déboires de prostituées dans les rues de Rome soit braillard et émotif est peut-être déplacé, mais rien à faire, il me faut vous dire que c'était trop braillard et émotif à mon goût. Cabiria est certes incorrigible, si on peut dire, mais elle finit par avoir son arc de caractère. Le hic, c'est qu'il faut près de deux heures avant d'y arriver, durée difficilement supportable dans une présentation aussi épisodique. Je m'en suis trouvé réellement fatigué. [École d'été du cinéma 2024, Uherské Hradiště, Tchéquie] (04/08/2024)

Life is fragile and unfair and the blows of fate can be really hard, as Cabiria's protagonist could talk about from morning till night. Giulietta Masina nailed the role and did it brilliantly, all her movements, gestures, expressions and rapidly changing moods were very believable. And that she was quite annoying at times! Maybe it was the dubbing, or even the fate of Cabiria, but at times she reminded me terribly of a sort of Renée Zellweger in a mix of Ruby from Cold Mountain and Bridget Jones. In short, life’s a bitch and whoever wants to have it with minimal worries has to fight like a pitbull. (06/03/2011)

Fellini set out on the same road for the second time, again casting a woman of a hundred faces (his wife) in order to touch viewers in all corners of the world with the difficult plight of a simple person. It’s not a miracle (for which Cabiria waits in vain), but the sadly beautiful ending was stunning. Also from a filmmaking standpoint, I found Nights of Cabiria to be slightly more palatable than La Strada. 75% (03/09/2011)

When you feel like your life isn't worth anything, hold onto your ideals and dreams at least, because know that it can get even worse. And in this case, it does. Hope dies last, but by definition, it is clear that it does, in fact, die. Fellini made a good film, but that’s not to say it completely blew me away. Giulietta Masina, however, is great in her role. (16/01/2015)