According to film reviewer and critic, Peter Matthews, “La Strada already hints at the kind of radical artist he
[Fellini] would become—one less interested in communicating legible meaning than in unburdening his private
obsessions, myths, memories, and dreams.” The film bridges Fellini’s background in neorealism to that of
magic realism. It also brings together many contrasts, both archetypal and artistic. How does the character of
the “strongman,” Zampanò, contradict that of the mysterious Gelsomina? What does this lyrical tragedy say
about humanity?