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Giulietta Masina, François Périer, Franca Marzi, Dorian Gray, Aldo Silvani ... see more see more... , Amedeo Nazzari , Riccardo Fellini , Ennio Girolami , Pina Gualandri , Mario Passante , Jérôme Polidor , Al Silvani , Christian Tassou , Amadeo Girard , Maria Luisa Rolando , Mimmo Poli

Nights of Cabiria opens with Cabiria (Giulietta Masina) and her boyfriend playfully embracing by the seaside -- and then he shoves her into the water and steals her purse. Cabiria is revived by some l... read more read more...ocal boys and runs off by herself, shouting. What follows is a series of similarly humiliating episodes, in which the defiantly positive prostitute Cabiria is hurt, but never broken. She gets picked up by movie star Alberto Lazzati (Amedeo Nazzari, doing a self-parody) and taken to his palatial estate. However, his mistress shows up and Cabiria gets locked in the bathroom all night with the dog. She then joins her fellow prostitutes for a blessing from the Virgin Mary, and ends up getting drunk and wandering into a local show, where the hypnotist invites her to join him on-stage. The audience heckles her, and she toughly reminds them of her independence and that she owns her own house. There she meets Oscar (François Perier), an accountant who romantically pursues her. Despite the warnings of her fellow prostitute friend, Wanda (Franca Marzi), she prepares to sell all her belongings and accept Oscar's proposal of marriage. After being ruthlessly taken advantage of once again, Cabiria walks off alone with a smirk of hope. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

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93% liked it

9,285 ratings

Critics

97% liked it

35 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 57 min.

Directed by: Federico Fellini

Release Date: October 28, 1957

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DVD Release Date: September 7, 1999

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Stats: 689 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (689)


  • May 16, 2007
    gut wrenching innocence
  • May 16, 2012
    Giulietta Masina ("La strada") is absolutely devastating in her role as the titular Cabiria in "Nights of Cabiria" (and when I say devastating, I mean it only in the best sense). Cabiria is quite a character to say the least. A prostitute who puts on a big loud and tough exteri... read moreor yet is almost fatally naive when it comes to love. In an opening scene, her boyfriend robs her and pushes her in the river to drown. She tries to play it off as an accident, a lover's tiff, but her friends know better. All of her mannerisms suggest someone who's putting on an act, and it doesn't feel as if we're ever allowed to see the "real" Cabiria. Well, almost. Towards the end of the film, we're shown (quite intentionally by director Federico Fellini) the true motivations of certain characters. It's this foreshadowing, allowing the audience in on things, that makes it so heartbreaking when Cabiria finally catches on. Cabiria is all the innocence of the world that we must so desperately cling to, in order to preserve even the slightest remainder of it. Giulietta Masina was married to Fellini for many years and it's through her we see his unique world view focused. Nights of Cabiria features many Fellini signatures: the robust yet voluptious woman, the skeletal structure silhouetted against the sky, and the seemingly random parade of fools, which in Cabiria's world, signals the final triumph of innocence over cynicism: that even in the darkest hour, we can be swayed to smile by the music of children, if it is truly in our nature to do so.
  • October 29, 2010
    Giulietta Masina was a great actress. I preferred her character in La Strada but her performance in Nights of Cabiria is much stronger. I've not seen Sweet Charity but I'm aware of it and I'm quite shocked at the audacity of it, I shan't judge until I've viewed it for myself but ... read morethis is a great film, an untouchable classic and a crucial point in Fellini's career as this marked the departure from neo-realism into the surreal and wonderful! It's all good though and I really think he's a director you should follow chronologically.
  • April 22, 2010
    Bellisimo!!!
  • February 10, 2010
    there is no mountain top that fellini seems that he is trying to reach here, but the film works on so many other levels that it ends up being exceptional anyway. by following cabiria, we get a wonderful and often scathing look into roman night life, from her exploits with the ri... read morechest of the rich to the poorest of the poor, and many places in between. the tragic nature of the film makes sense, cabiria just sets herself up to be swindled it seems. she sort of ends where she started, but the adventure she went through in between is an engaging one. really an excellent film.
  • July 28, 2009
    My favorite Fellini. A picture of immense emotion and humor.
  • April 28, 2009
    Fellini puts the loveable Giulietta Masina through yet another tragic set of circumstances. Here she's a prostitute who dreams of finding her one true love, even though her heart is repeatedly broken by a series of men with ill intentions. Masina's irrepressible impish charm co... read morempels you to root for her, but her characters always seemed destined for disappointment. Come on Federico, give the gal a break! (Where the hell is Frank Capra when you need him? lol)
  • November 25, 2008
    Nothing short of stunning. Cabiria is a truly unforgettable woman.
  • July 27, 2007
    Definitely good. For the first hour I was paying more attention to what was going on around Cabiria than what was actually happening with her. Once the hypnotism scene happened it was all her. The ending on this one is talked up quite a bit. The lead up to it was more interesting... read more to me than the actual ending, but I liked it as a whole nonetheless. Nothing to murder a busload of nuns to see, but definitely worth your time.
  • February 5, 2007
    Le Notti di Cabiria

    Mahalo, XTC, for the recommendation; this truly is moving. You go through life taking one beating after another, and then you do find happiness. Of course not. A heartbreaking performance by Giulietta Masina, Fellini's wife. I can almost see wh

    ... read morey he would be attracted to her in real life. Masina has an uncanny look and ability to portray every mood under the sun. It's a kind of Fellini-esque plasticiity of character that is most admirable. My guess is that she is equally adept at playing comedy. A wonderful talent with an amazing face.

Critic Reviews


January 26, 2006
Time Out

In 1957, Fellini was still as indebted to neo-realism as to surrealism, and this melancholy tale of a prostitute working the outskirts of Rome is notable for its straightforward depiction of destitution. Full Review

Jeff Millar
July 21, 2005
Jeff Millar, Houston Chronicle

What makes the character so poignant is that her final fortification is not her street wisdom -- that's all surface -- but her innocence. Her ultimate protection is our sympathy for her. Full Review

Andrew Sarris
May 19, 2005
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

Even in the mutilated version of the film, Masina shone and sparkled in her shabby role. Full Review

Kenneth Turan
February 13, 2001
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

Through [Masina's] unforgettable performance, Cabiria will endure as long as anyone cares to watch transcendence projected on a screen. Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
January 1, 2000
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

The gift of Cabiria's essence, freed from the determinism of stories, is to return us to our own. Full Review

Bob Graham
January 1, 2000
Bob Graham, San Francisco Chronicle

Masina is immensely touching, through an extraordinary range of emotions. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

As artificial as Cabiria's behavior sometimes seems, it always seems her own, and this little woman carries herself proudly through the gutters of Rome. Full Review

David Denby
January 1, 2000
David Denby, New York Magazine

The most perfectly beautiful and touching of Fellini's movies. Full Review

Joe Baltake
January 1, 2000
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee

A must-see item -- a sad, compassionate tale of street life that resonates with a magic missing from even our best summer films, whose only goal is to jar us. Full Review

Stanley Kauffmann
January 1, 2000
Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic

It's fascinating. Part of the fascination is in seeing how much of it is intrinsic, untarnished gold; and, as with most earlier works of masters, part of it now is in seeing the hints of the Fellini t...

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