The finale of Fellini's "Lonely Trilogy", tragedy wrapped in comedy.
The camera starts from a pair of men and women running on the grass holding hands. The woman stops and pulls the man's hand before she runs a few steps, and kisses him before she runs a few steps, until she is pushed into the water after being robbed of her handbag by the river bank. The turn was as sudden for the audience as it was for the woman, who was reluctant to believe that a man murdered because he loved her. She is obsessed with love in her heart, even a little silly, but she is a prostitute.
A prostitute who is obsessed with love, has met three men: a famous actor, a night philanthropist, and a gentleman liar. Almost every paragraph can be called an adventure, but unfortunately every paragraph has not been fruitful. He spent the night in the actor's bathroom listening to him and his new girlfriend, before waking up on the floor the next morning and being sneaked away. In the middle of the night, I ran into a philanthropist and followed him to deliver food and warm clothes to the poor, but the other party was not interested in her. This is no longer delusional about fate or nothing, but encounters a strange man who relentlessly pursues him, and finally almost repeats the mistakes of the beginning of the film.
Watching Kabylia walk into the deep forest with the liar with an unconcealed smile on her face, and watching her embrace the sunset, I felt a chill after another, for her bad luck and for millions of women. Unfair fate. Looking at Kabylia's smile, confusion, and horror-filled eyes, it's hard for me not to think of the murdered wives in reality. This is how women are murdered by men and then strangled by society, with no room for survival. This is the case in movies, and even more so in reality.
Under the scenes of laughter and playfulness, the inner core is a deep tragedy. In the film, happiness and sadness are always intertwined, just as Kabylia combines sinking and innocence. What she is chasing may not be love. Rather, it is chasing the destination of life in the ups and downs, or seeking a way out for the constant loneliness, or just living with a chasing instinct.
Although it is a black and white film, it is full of brilliance. The bathroom overnight, the theater hypnosis, and the happy crowd at the end of the credits are all excellent strokes, cruel but beautiful. In the end, Kabylia joined the happy crowd, which may be a hint of kindness from the director, but it is more like a concealer when it is mapped to the real female predicament.
Although I am happy to see Kabylia happy again, hope she and Wanda are reunited.
View more about Nights of Cabiria reviews