La Strada

Regarded by some as Federico Fellini's finest work and the winner of the first Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, La Strada is a masterpiece of 20th Century filmmaking. Sold by her impoverished mother to Zampanò (Anthony Quinn), a brutish fairground wrestler, waif-like Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina) lives a life of drudgery as his assistant. After taking to the road with a traveling circus, a budding relationship with Il Matto / The Fool (Richard Basehart), a gentle-natured, tightrope-walking clown, offers potential refuge from her master's clutches. Trapped by her own servile nature, Gelsomina wavers as Zampanò's volcanic temper erupts with tragic consequences.