100 Movies Every Catholic Should See #72: Nights of Cabiria (1957)

Directed by Federico Fellini. Starring Giulietta Masina.

In the years following the second world war, cinema in Europe turned away from flashy and fantastical studio productions to focus on the gritty and impoverished conditions of the lower class, struggling to make ends meet amidst the wreckage and desolation of war. Films emerging in this era examined the difficult economic and moral conditions brought about by the conflict and the widespread devastation that had been wrought, often focusing on the experiences of those living in the seedier outskirts of urban centers. In Italy, this movement became known as Italian Neorealism. Nights of Cabiria appeared during a period of transition away from this artistic school yet in many ways, draws inspiration from many thematic and visual elements of earlier neorealist films.

Nights of Cabiria establishes itself firmly in the seedy fringes of society, in the realm of murky morals and pitiful desperation. Director Federico Fellini’s decision to set much of the film in a trashy neighborhood on the dusty outskirts of Rome gives it a sense of documentary realism. This is a story of the poor and the outcast, serving as quite a contrast to contemporary American films like Roman Holiday, which, while set in the same city, focus on the lighthearted escapades of the well-off amidst polished monuments and museums. This was an age when most American filmgoers were used to seeing the glitz and glamor of Europe, the pearls of Audrey Hepburn and the silk ties of Cary Grant. Nights of Cabiria offers something deeper, an examination of the raw and often painful drama of the human experience. 

The film follows a prostitute by the name of Cabiria Ceccarelli through several eventful days and nights. From the outset, it is apparent that life has delt this unfortunate soul with an unlucky hand. Fellini opts to begin the film dramatically in medias res, with Cabiria being tricked and robbed by a man posing as her lover. She is shoved into a polluted river around her neighborhood, nearly drowning as her supposed suitor makes off with her purse. The surrounding events of this episode serve to provide vital information about Cabiria’s character. Though she lives the life of a prostitute, it is apparent that she yearns to find true love and escape from her sleazy profession. Her naivety and lowly position continue to lead her to place her hope in all the wrong places.

With a subject matter that, in the hands of other directors, could lend itself to endless exploitation and revelry in its plethora of explicit elements, Fellini opts to depict the nature of prostitution through a compassionate lens, focusing on the human beings themselves stuck in this dreadful trade. He shows Cabiria and her companions in their full humanity, with their hopes, their dreams and their fears rather than by the acts they are forced for their profession. The words of Pope John Paul II on the problems of pornography seem apt in this instance: "There is no dignity when the human dimension is eliminated from the person. In short, the problem with pornography is not that it shows too much of the person, but that it shows far too little."

For the Catholic viewer, Fellini’s drama provides a view through which these women can be seen as lost souls in need of redemption. In the Gospels, Jesus frequently focuses on the outcasts and the sinners, often journeying to the seedy and unpleasant corners of villages to find them: “The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” He heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do…I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”¹ Fellini has set his drama squarely in the realm of the sinners, fertile ground for repentance and redemption. 

As the narrative teases from the opening scenes, the dynamism of Nights of Cabiria centers around Cabiria’s desire to escape the entrapments of her occupation to find a better and more virtuous life. In one bizarre episode, she stumbles upon a magic show in a back alley theater where her naivety is exploited by a crafty magician and she is put in a state of hypnosis. As the audience laughs, she pantomimes her inner desires to be married and living a happy life. This scene in many ways encapsulates Cabiria’s character: an innocent girl who, through unfortunate circumstances and her own gullibility, has been taken advantage of and finds herself trapped in a life she does not want to live.

In perhaps the most poignant and symbolically religious scene of the film, Fellini masterfully juxtaposes the sacred and the profane, offering a thought-provoking examination of the struggle between these elements—not only in Cabiria's world but, by and large, in the world of the viewer as well. It is through this scene also, that Cabiria's desire for Grace is manifested. Contextually, the Italy Fellini lived in, which the scene depicts, was still very much a Catholic world, even if it was somewhat relegated to cultural vestiges and traditions. Film critic Mark Cousins opts for a more cynical view, arguing that  “Nights of Cabiria reflect[s] a society in which religion has disappeared and only its kitsch images remain.”² However true these sentiments may be, the average Italian was still well versed in the ideas of sin and God’s promise of redemption. Cabiria certainly belongs in this group as she and some of her friends find themselves crossing paths with a procession of devout Catholics on their way to pray for intercession at a well known Marian shrine. Cabiria feels herself instinctively drawn to follow them. As she enters the shrine, amidst the singing of hymns and loud utterances of simple prayers, she falls to her knees, crying out “Madonna, Madonna, help me to change my life. Bestow your grace on me too. Make me change my life.” In her heart of hearts, she knows that God’s graces may offer her the help she needs to turn away from a lifestyle she does not want to lead. 

Nights of Cabiria does not offer easy answers nor provide a predictable and cookie-cutter outcome, something that has plagued so many Christian films of recent years. Faith is difficult. Life is hard. Often God does not answer prayers in the ways that are most expected. That is where the mastery of this film lies, in its unflinching depiction of the raw and often desperate drama of a sinful life, slowly stumbling towards the promise of God’s redemption. 

The filmography of Federico Fellini includes many works that are considered masterpieces in depicting the intensity of human existence against the cultural backdrop of Catholicism. Two of his films, La Strada and 8 ½, are honored to be included in the Vatican's list of significant films under the art category. While the after-mentioned films represent exceptional titles in their own right, Nights of Cabiria offers a more intimate and poignant portrayal of suffering, sin, and redemption, making it an ideal starting point for any Catholic seeking to explore the work of this Italian master.

1. Matthew 9: 9-13.

2. Mark Cousins, The Story of Film: The history of cinema, filmmakers and their art, for students and movie lovers (Glasgow: Pavilion Books, 2020), 249.