Gelsomina gives me nightmares

Giulietta Masina in La Strada is possibly the weirdest character I have ever witnessed in a film. Is Masina that weird or is she just a very skilled actress playing Gelsomina and convincing the audience that she is nothing more than an absent minded woman. Personally this film takes a while to get off the ground. Sometimes this is okay. However, in this case the director, the great Federico Fellini, gives us nothing to chew on. He gives some information, but sparingly. He tells us that Rosa, Gelsomina’s older sister, and Zampano’s (Anthony Quinn) former “helper” has died. That, of course, is the reason why he comes back to Rosa’s family to pick up another “assistant”. After this brief context there is not much else for the audience to fully understand until much later in the film. For the first half, at least, there is just a collection of looks by Gelsomina. When she seems sad about leaving her family she smiles and when she is supposed to be happy, when they get work, she looks sad. Maybe there is a reason for this, but I just like to think that Fellini just wants to mess with our heads and confuse us further. Martin Scorsese said about Fellini that he had a great love for the circus and for clowns especially. It’s too bad that my love does not lie where Fellini’s does because, frankly the circus freaks me out and Gelsomina’s stares and gazes that characterize her as mentally slow add to that fear even more. All I have to say is that I hope this film gets a bit better, because it’s said to be from a redefining period, and so far it hasn’t redefined anything.