La Strada

La Strada is a 1954 Italian drama film directed by Federico Fellini, co-written by Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, and Ennio Flaiano, and starring Giulietta Masina as the naive Gelsomina and Anthony Quinn as the brutish strongman Zampanò.^[1] The story follows Gelsomina, a simple young woman sold by her impoverished mother to join Zampanò's traveling circus act, where she endures hardship, abuse, and a poignant search for meaning amid the harsh realities of post-war Italy.^[2] Blending neorealist elements with poetic fantasy and circus motifs, the film explores themes of human isolation, redemption, and the fragility of the human spirit.^[3] Upon its release, La Strada received widespread critical acclaim for its emotional depth and Masina's iconic performance, earning her international acclaim and a BAFTA nomination for Best Foreign Actress.^[4] It marked a pivotal evolution in Fellini's style, transitioning from strict neorealism toward the surrealism that would define his later masterpieces.^[5] The film won the inaugural Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1957, along with the Silver Lion at Venice, solidifying its status as a cornerstone of Italian cinema.^[6] Its enduring legacy includes influencing generations of filmmakers and being preserved by organizations like The Film Foundation for its artistic and historical significance.^[5]

Overview

Plot

La Strada is a 108-minute black-and-white Italian film that unfolds as a series of episodic road journeys through post-war villages and towns.^[7] The story begins with the death of Rosa, a young woman who had been working as an assistant to the brutish strongman performer Zampanò (played by Anthony Quinn).^[8] Returning to the impoverished seaside family home, Zampanò proposes to buy Rosa's younger sister, the simple-minded and childlike Gelsomina (played by Giulietta Masina), as her replacement for 10,000 lire and some food, which her mother accepts out of necessity.^[5] Gelsomina, displaying wide-eyed innocence, tearfully leaves her family to join Zampanò in his one-man traveling act, where she assists by playing a drum and a trumpet while he breaks chains to demonstrate his strength.^[9] As they travel from village to village in Zampanò's motorcycle-pulled caravan, performing at fairs, Gelsomina earnestly attempts to learn her role, enduring Zampanò's possessive brutality, including beatings and implied sexual coercion, yet remaining devoted to him.^[4] Their routine is disrupted when they join a small circus near Rome, where Gelsomina encounters Il Matto (played by Richard Basehart), a philosophical tightrope walker and clown who taunts Zampanò with intellectual barbs about his coarseness and meaninglessness, sparking violent confrontations.^[5] During one altercation, Zampanò threatens Il Matto with a knife and is briefly imprisoned before being released. Later, after Il Matto performs a daring tightrope act without a safety net, Zampanò, in a fit of rage and jealousy, kills Il Matto by striking him with a rock. Devastated by the death, Gelsomina becomes catatonic; overwhelmed, Zampanò abandons her in a remote town with some money.^[4][9] Alone and adrift, Gelsomina wanders until her health deteriorates, and she is found dead in isolation by villagers.^[4] Months later, Zampanò, continuing his solitary performances, hears villagers mention a woman who resembled Gelsomina and learns of her passing; overwhelmed by remorse, he collapses on a beach, hearing the faint echo of her trumpet tune in the wind.^[5]

Cast

The principal cast of La Strada (1954) features a blend of Italian and American actors, reflecting director Federico Fellini's aim to broaden the film's international appeal through recognizable Hollywood talent alongside native performers.^[10] Giulietta Masina, an Italian actress, stars as Gelsomina, portraying the role of an innocent, childlike waif who is sold by her impoverished family to join a traveling circus act.^[7][10] Anthony Quinn, an American actor of Mexican descent, plays Zampanò, the coarse and domineering strongman who treats Gelsomina as both assistant and unwilling companion in his one-man show.^[7][10] Richard Basehart, another American performer, embodies Il Matto, a free-spirited and acrobatic fool whose playful yet insightful nature provides a counterpoint to Zampanò's brutality.^[10][11] Aldo Silvani, an Italian character actor, appears as Il Signor Giraffa, the owner of the small circus they join.^[11][7] Among the supporting players, Anna Primula takes the role of Gelsomina's mother, a desperate widow who reluctantly parts with her daughter for financial survival.^[12]

Production

Development

The screenplay for La Strada was co-written by director Federico Fellini along with Tullio Pinelli and Ennio Flaiano, with development beginning in 1953 as Fellini sought to craft a story centered on itinerant performers.^[5][13] The narrative drew inspiration from the lives of Italian street artists and circus figures, reflecting Fellini's own early encounters with such worlds during his youth in Rimini, where he observed the raw, nomadic existence of entertainers that infused the film's portrayal of vulnerability and human connection.^[14][3] Fellini specifically tailored the central character of Gelsomina for his wife, actress Giulietta Masina, incorporating elements of her expressive style and childhood mannerisms to evoke a blend of innocence and pathos.^[15][5] Initially facing rejections from multiple producers due to its unconventional tone, the project secured financing from Dino De Laurentiis and Carlo Ponti, who supported a modest production budget that emphasized practical, low-cost elements like location shooting and minimal sets.^[5][14] This backing allowed Fellini to evolve the script from neorealist roots toward a more allegorical and poetic tragedy, marking a pivotal shift in his stylistic direction.^[5]

Casting

Federico Fellini wrote the role of Gelsomina specifically for his wife, Giulietta Masina, drawing on her pantomime skills and Chaplinesque physicality to embody the character's innocent, waif-like vulnerability, which enhanced the film's emotional authenticity through a blend of neorealist realism and stylized performance.^[10][16] Despite this tailoring during the script's development, producers Dino De Laurentiis and Carlo Ponti resisted the casting, preferring Silvana Mangano for the part and pushing for bigger international names like Burt Lancaster, creating initial reluctance that Fellini overcame by insisting on Masina's unique suitability.^[5][10] For the role of Zampanò, Fellini selected American actor Anthony Quinn after spotting him on the set of Donne Proibite (1953), where Quinn had been working with Masina; Quinn initially hesitated but accepted upon viewing Fellini's I Vitelloni (1953), bringing a rugged physical presence that grounded the character's brutality in raw authenticity.^[10][5] Richard Basehart, another American actor residing in Rome at the time, was cast as Il Matto to add an international dimension and eccentric energy, with the two actors' involvement helping to broaden the film's appeal beyond Italy while maintaining its intimate, road-weary realism.^[10][5] Casting faced significant challenges, including Quinn's concurrent filming of Attila (1954) further complicating matters, forcing a grueling split-day routine that strained logistics but contributed to the performers' authentic exhaustion on screen.^[10] To achieve the film's neorealist texture, Fellini employed non-professional extras extensively, gathering around 4,000 locals in a small town by spreading a ruse that stars Totò and Sophia Loren would appear, which infused crowd scenes with genuine, unpolished vitality and heightened the story's portrayal of itinerant life.^[5]

Filming

Principal photography for La Strada commenced in October 1953 in the Abruzzo and Lazio regions of central Italy, capturing the film's itinerant narrative along rural roads near Rome and in remote villages such as Ovindoli and Viterbo. The production spanned approximately four months, incorporating both location shooting and studio work, with interior and circus sequences filmed at the Ponti-De Laurentiis studios in Rome. The climactic beach scene was lensed at Fregene, near Rome, to evoke the isolation of the story's finale.^[17][18][19] The shoot encountered significant logistical hurdles, primarily from harsh winter weather that persisted into early 1954, with temperatures plummeting to -5°C and complicating outdoor sequences in the snowy Abruzzo highlands, where the crew often lacked heat or hot water. Further delays arose when lead actress Giulietta Masina dislocated her ankle shortly after filming began, during a scene at a convent, forcing a production halt of several weeks until her recovery; this incident required script adjustments to modify demanding physical scenes and adapt to her temporary mobility limitations. Cinematographer Otello Martelli played a key role in navigating these conditions, using black-and-white stock to emphasize the bleak, windswept terrains that mirrored the characters' emotional desolation.^{[20][5][21][22]} To achieve authentic performances amid these adversities, director Federico Fellini opted for a silent shooting approach typical of Italian cinema at the time, relying on post-production dubbing rather than on-set audio capture, which allowed actors greater freedom in delivering natural, unrehearsed interactions.^[23]

Post-Production

The editing of La Strada was completed by Leo Cattozzo, who assembled the principal photography into a 108-minute runtime, creating a rhythmic pacing that alternates between the film's dynamic road sequences and more introspective moments.^[10][7] Nino Rota composed the film's score in 1954, incorporating folk influences drawn from Italian traditions to evoke the nomadic circus world; the haunting "Gelsomina" theme, first introduced as a melody on violin and later rendered on trumpet, recurs throughout to underscore emotional depth.^[24][25] Sound design occurred entirely in post-production, following the common Italian practice of silent filming, with all dialogue post-dubbed in Italian—including the voices of non-Italian-speaking actors Anthony Quinn and Richard Basehart—to achieve precise synchronization. Ambient noises of roads, vehicles, and circus performances were layered over the visuals to heighten immersion and convey the transient lifestyle of the characters.^[26][25]

Release

Premiere

La Strada premiered on September 6, 1954, at the 15th Venice International Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Lion but did not win the top prize, instead receiving the Silver Lion for direction.^[27][28] The screening generated considerable buzz among festival audiences and critics, marking a pivotal moment in Federico Fellini's rising international profile despite initial mixed reactions from Italian reviewers who found its poetic style unconventional.^[28] Following its festival debut, the film received a limited Italian theatrical release starting September 23, 1954, in Milan, expanding to other cities like Rome by early October.^[29] The United States premiere occurred on July 16, 1956, in New York City, distributed by Trans-Lux, which helped introduce the film to American audiences nearly two years after its European launch.^[29][30]

Distribution and Restorations

Following its Italian premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 6, 1954, La Strada expanded internationally, with a UK release on October 26, 1954, during Italian Film Week in London.^[29] The film reached the United States on July 16, 1956, distributed by Trans-Lux, marking a significant breakthrough for Italian cinema in the American market.^[29] To facilitate export to non-Italian-speaking audiences, dubbed versions were produced, including an English-language track featuring the original voices of Anthony Quinn and Richard Basehart, and an Italian-dubbed edition where Giulietta Masina provided her own voice.^[23] A 2K digital restoration followed for the UK's 2017 theatrical reissue by StudioCanal, enhancing visual clarity for modern screenings.^[31] In 2021, a new 4K restoration, undertaken by the Criterion Collection in collaboration with The Film Foundation and Cineteca di Bologna's L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory from a preserved 35mm dupe negative, was released, funded in part by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and including uncompressed monaural audio.^[7] This version preserves the film's poetic black-and-white cinematography while making it accessible for contemporary audiences. Home media distribution has been anchored by the Criterion Collection since its DVD edition in 2003, which included the alternate English soundtrack and scholarly commentary; the 2021 4K UHD and Blu-ray upgrades further expanded availability with restored supplements.^[7]

Reception

Initial Response

Upon its premiere at the 1954 Venice Film Festival, where it won the Silver Lion, La Strada elicited mixed responses from European critics, who praised Giulietta Masina's poignant portrayal of Gelsomina while debating the film's sentimental tone.^[3] Italian reviewers in artistic circles lauded Masina's expressive performance and the film's evolution from neorealist traditions, recognizing its roots in postwar realism through depictions of itinerant life and human vulnerability.^[28] However, prominent neorealist-oriented critics dismissed it as overly sentimental and unrealistic, arguing it deviated from the movement's emphasis on social critique by prioritizing emotional introspection over ideological rigor.^[32] In the United States, the film's 1956 release drew similarly divided feedback, with A.H. Weiler of The New York Times describing it as a "tender, realistic parable" that compassionately explored "man’s loneliness and need for love," highlighting Masina's "rare and acute perception" in conveying the character's anxieties.^[9] Some American commentators, however, viewed its melancholic narrative and lack of a happy resolution as excessively brooding, contributing to a delayed rollout that puzzled observers given its artistic merits.^[9] Audience reception reflected these critical divides, with strong turnout in Italy where the film achieved excellent box office results despite ideological pushback from militant reviewers.^[33] In the U.S., viewership was more moderate, partly due to the challenges of subtitles for non-English dialogue, which limited broader accessibility amid the era's preference for dubbed foreign imports.^[34]

Critical Analysis

Critical analysis of La Strada has evolved significantly since its release, highlighting Federico Fellini's stylistic shift from the stark realism of postwar Italian neorealism toward a more poetic and fantastical mode of storytelling. Scholars view the film as a pivotal transitional work, where neorealist elements—such as location shooting, non-professional actors in supporting roles, and depictions of societal margins—blend with symbolic allegory and dreamlike sequences, marking Fellini's departure from the genre's emphasis on social documentation toward personal, introspective narratives. This evolution is evident in the film's circus milieu, which serves as a metaphor for existential isolation rather than a mere backdrop for economic hardship, allowing Fellini to infuse everyday struggles with mythic resonance. Central to this artistry is Giulietta Masina's portrayal of Gelsomina, whose mime-inspired performance provides the emotional core of the film through subtle physicality and expressive silence. Masina's Chaplinesque gestures—wide-eyed wonder, tentative smiles, and improvised routines—convey profound vulnerability and resilience without relying on dialogue, elevating the character beyond verbal narrative to embody universal pathos. Critics have noted how this non-verbal technique deepens the film's humanism, using Gelsomina's physical comedy to bridge the gap between tragedy and tenderness, making her innocence a lens for audience empathy.^[3] Influential mid-century reviews, such as Pauline Kael's, praised the film's humanistic depth, interpreting its characters allegorically: Zampanò as the body, Gelsomina as the soul, and Il Matto as the mind, in a parable of spiritual purpose amid brutality. Kael highlighted the "spiritual message that everyone has a purpose in the universe," underscoring how Fellini's fable transcends sentimentality to affirm human interconnectedness. However, this dynamic has sparked ongoing debates about misogyny, with later critiques examining the abusive Zampanò-Gelsomina relationship as reinforcing patriarchal control, where the woman's devotion enables male dominance and her "simplicity" borders on infantilization. Feminist scholars argue that while the film critiques toxic masculinity, it ultimately romanticizes female submission, perpetuating stereotypes of women as redemptive victims.^[4][35][36] In 21st-century scholarship, La Strada is reassessed for its representation of disability, particularly Gelsomina's childlike demeanor and implied intellectual limitations, which evoke empathy but risk stereotypical portrayals of the "innocent other" as objects of pity. Modern analyses commend the film's empathetic gaze, which humanizes marginal figures through Masina's nuanced performance, yet critique how such depictions may overlook agency, reflecting mid-20th-century attitudes toward neurodiversity. These interpretations address earlier oversights by framing the movie's humanism as both progressive in fostering compassion and limited by era-specific biases, enriching its legacy as a touchstone for discussions on vulnerability and otherness.^[37][38]

Box Office

La Strada achieved considerable commercial success in Italy upon its release on September 22, 1954, becoming an immediate box office hit and ranking 41st among the top-grossing films of the 1954-55 season.^[39][40] The film's profitability was bolstered by the positive reception at its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival earlier that month, where it won the Silver Lion award, generating significant buzz that drove domestic audiences.^[5] Internationally, La Strada faced limitations due to its foreign language and neorealist style, which posed barriers for non-Italian markets, though it still performed well upon its U.S. release in July 1956. In the United States, the film grossed approximately $600,000 during its initial run, marking Federico Fellini's most successful film to that point and contributing to its global earnings estimated in the low millions when adjusted for the era.^[41][42]

Awards and Recognition

Academy Awards

La Strada received significant recognition at the 29th Academy Awards, held on March 27, 1957, at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, California, honoring films released in 1956.^[43] The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, marking the inaugural competitive win in this newly established category and the first such honor for an Italian production.^[44] Producers Dino De Laurentiis and Carlo Ponti accepted the award on behalf of Italy.^[45] In addition to its victory in the foreign language category, La Strada earned a nomination for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay—Written Directly for the Screen, credited to director Federico Fellini and co-writer Tullio Pinelli.^[43] This screenplay category recognized original works crafted directly for film, with La Strada's nomination highlighting its poignant narrative of human isolation and companionship.^[43] Director Federico Fellini attended the ceremony alongside his wife, actress Giulietta Masina—who starred as Gelsomina—and producer Dino De Laurentiis, an event captured in official Academy photographs.^[46] The Oscar win notably elevated Fellini's international profile, propelling him toward greater global acclaim in subsequent years.^[14]

Other Honors

At the 15th Venice International Film Festival in 1954, where La Strada premiered, Federico Fellini received the Silver Lion (Leone d'Argento) award for best direction. The film was also nominated for the Golden Lion but did not win the top prize.^[47] Internationally, La Strada earned a nomination for Giulietta Masina in the category of Best Foreign Actress at the 9th British Academy Film Awards in 1956. In Italy, the film was honored with multiple Nastro d'Argento (Silver Ribbon) awards from the National Syndicate of Film Journalists in 1955, including Best Director for Fellini, Best Original Story for Fellini and Pinelli, and Best Producer for Dino De Laurentiis and Carlo Ponti.^[48]

Themes and Style

Humanism and Relationships

La Strada centers on the theme of humanism through Gelsomina's poignant quest for love and connection amidst pervasive abuse and exploitation, embodying the vulnerability of post-war Italian society grappling with emotional and social ruins.^[49] Gelsomina, portrayed as an innocent and resilient figure sold into servitude by her impoverished family, navigates a world of hardship where her desire for affection clashes with the brutality of her circumstances, highlighting the innate human drive for relational bonds despite adversity.^[50] This motif reflects the broader post-war Italian context of individual fragility, where characters like Gelsomina symbolize a generation seeking meaning and tenderness in a landscape scarred by conflict and reconstruction.^[51] The film offers a sharp social commentary on the exploitation inherent in the itinerant lives of street performers, critiquing the power imbalances that perpetuate abuse within marginalized communities. Zampanò, the domineering strongman, exemplifies this through his initial brutality toward Gelsomina, treating her as a mere extension of his act rather than a partner deserving of empathy.^[52] Over time, however, Zampanò undergoes a subtle arc from callous exploitation to profound regret, culminating in his isolated reflection on the beach, where the weight of his actions forces a reckoning with lost humanity.^[51] This evolution underscores the film's humanist plea for accountability and the possibility of emotional growth, even in the face of irreparable harm.^[50] Philosophical depth emerges through Il Matto's existential provocations, which contrast the freedom of nonconformity with the stifling rigidity of societal roles. As the enigmatic tightrope walker, Il Matto delivers barbed insights that challenge Zampanò's brute conformity, advocating for a liberated existence unbound by material or emotional chains.^[52] His interactions with Gelsomina, marked by fleeting moments of shared understanding through music and wit, illuminate the tension between isolation and authentic connection, positioning him as a catalyst for reflection on human potential beyond oppression.^[51] Through these dynamics, La Strada posits humanism not as abstract ideal but as an urgent call to transcend conformity toward genuine relational freedom.^[49]

Visual and Narrative Techniques

In La Strada, cinematographer Otello Martelli employs black-and-white photography to craft a visually striking contrast between vast, desolate Italian landscapes and intimate close-ups, underscoring the characters' isolation and emotional vulnerability. The expansive shots of barren roads and rural settings evoke the harsh realities of postwar Italy, drawing on neorealist traditions to ground the film in authentic locations while amplifying the sense of endless wandering. Meanwhile, tight framings on Gelsomina's expressive face, played by Giulietta Masina, capture subtle shifts in her wonder and sorrow, heightening the film's poignant humanism.^[53][54] The narrative structure unfolds as an episodic road film, blending neorealist grit with dreamlike sequences that infuse the story with fable-like poetry. Rather than a linear plot, the film progresses through vignettes of circus performances and transient encounters, such as the chaotic wedding scene where Gelsomina experiences a hallucinatory vision of harmony amid discord, marking Fellini's shift toward surreal introspection. This hybrid approach allows for a rhythmic exploration of human interdependence, where everyday brutality intersects with moments of ethereal fantasy.^[53][14] Symbolic devices further enhance the emotional resonance, with the recurring trumpet motif serving as an auditory echo of Gelsomina's enduring spirit, heard plaintively in the film's haunting finale. The circus itself functions as a metaphor for life's inherent absurdity, its garish spectacles juxtaposed against the performers' quiet tragedies to reveal the futility and fragility of existence. Nino Rota's score integrates these elements seamlessly, using the trumpet to bridge the visual and auditory realms in a single, evocative motif.^[54][53]

Legacy

Cinematic Influence

La Strada exerted a profound influence on international cinema, particularly in its humanistic portrayal of marginalized characters and nomadic journeys, which resonated with directors seeking to explore emotional and existential depths. Akira Kurosawa, a contemporary master, cited the film as one of his 100 favorite movies.^[3][55] The film's structure of itinerant performers traversing rural Italy also helped lay the foundations for the road movie genre, blending pathos with episodic encounters in a way that prefigured spiritual odysseys in cinema.^[56] Its enduring critical acclaim underscores this legacy, with La Strada ranking fourth in the 1992 British Film Institute's Sight & Sound directors' poll, where 101 filmmakers selected their top ten films of all time.^[57] In 1995, the Vatican included it among 45 important films marking the centenary of cinema, categorizing it under "Art" for its exotic grotesquerie and philosophical dimensions, as selected by an international committee of scholars.^[58] Scholarly analyses position La Strada as a pivotal work in Federico Fellini's oeuvre, signifying his shift from the stark realism of Italian neorealism toward a more introspective and symbolic personal cinema that incorporated dreamlike elements and autobiographical undertones. This evolution influenced the trajectory of post-neorealist Italian filmmaking, inspiring directors like Pier Paolo Pasolini to blend social critique with poetic introspection, thereby contributing to the broader Italian cinematic renaissance beyond the immediate postwar era.^[59][60]

Cultural Adaptations

The film La Strada has been adapted into various non-cinematic formats, extending its narrative of human vulnerability and itinerant life into theater and graphic literature. In 1969, it premiered as a Broadway musical titled La Strada, with music primarily by Lionel Bart and additional contributions by Elliot Lawrence, lyrics by Bart and Martin Charnin, and a book by Charles K. Peck, Jr. The production, directed by Alan Schneider with choreography by Alvin Ailey and Joyce Trisler, opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York City after tryouts in Detroit but closed after a single performance due to critical backlash over its superficial adaptation of the film's poetic depth, though actress Bernadette Peters received praise for her portrayal of Gelsomina.^[61] No official cast album was released, but a 1967 concept album featuring early versions of the songs highlighted the musical's attempt to capture the film's melancholic essence through numbers like "The Great Zampano."^[62] In Italy, the story found new expression in comics during the early 1990s, reflecting the film's enduring cultural resonance. A notable adaptation appeared in 1991 as Topolino presenta La strada: un omaggio a Federico Fellini, published in issue 1866 of the Topolino magazine by the Walt Disney Company. Written by Massimo Marconi and illustrated by Giorgio Cavazzano, this homage reimagined the characters—such as Gelsomina and Zampanò—within the Disney universe, blending Fellini's neorealist tragedy with whimsical animation styles to pay tribute to the director's legacy. The story was later reissued in a deluxe hardcover edition by Panini Comics, emphasizing its role in bridging cinema and popular graphic storytelling.^[63] Nino Rota's haunting score for La Strada, particularly the poignant "Gelsomina" love theme, has permeated music beyond film, inspiring covers across classical, jazz, and instrumental genres that evoke the film's themes of longing and isolation. Notable interpretations include Chet Baker's 1950s vocal rendition with Len Mercer and His Orchestra, which added a jazzy introspection to the melody, and Amy Dickson's 2012 saxophone arrangement, which amplified its emotional fragility in a contemporary context. Other artists, such as Richard Galliano on accordion in a 2006 ensemble with John Surman and Dave Douglas, have adapted the theme into chamber jazz, while piano solos by performers like Pascal Mencarelli highlight its minimalist beauty. The theme's influence extends to folk-inspired works, notably Kris Kristofferson's 1969 song "Me and Bobby McGee," which Kristofferson described as drawing from the film's portrayal of transient freedom and heartbreak along the road.^[64][65] Recent media tributes demonstrate La Strada's ongoing relevance, particularly in animation and visual storytelling that echo its humanistic road journey. Pixar's 2021 animated feature Luca, set along the Italian Riviera, features a visible poster of La Strada in a key scene and was partly inspired by the film's 1950s neorealist aesthetic, as director Enrico Casarosa cited it alongside works like Roman Holiday for capturing youthful wanderlust and emotional intimacy. Restorations of the original film, including a 2019 4K version by the Cineteca di Bologna, have enabled such homages by making high-quality prints accessible for educational and creative projects. References also appear in modern Italian media, such as subtle nods in RAI television dramas exploring rural itinerancy, underscoring the film's timeless appeal to themes of displacement and connection. In 2024, the film celebrated its 70th anniversary with retrospectives and events. In April 2025, Pope Francis named La Strada as a favorite film that "always stayed in my heart."^[66][67][68]