I must admit, dear friends, I am not feeling well.

It is probably nothing.  I tell myself.

But yet I am miserable.

And so I relate to Giulietta Masina who plays the little clown Gelsomina.

If I was not feeling so ill I would have started by saying that this is one of the finest films I have ever seen.

Truly, it is a work of art.

I cannot recount to you all of the best parts.

That is not my mission.

I don’t want to spoil the surprises.

But let me tell you a story.

It is about an “ugly” girl (or boy, as the case may be).

It is about a very poor child.  Hunger.  Misery.

But somehow the outcast has kept a smile on her face…like Harpo Marx.

And she has a hitch in her gait…like Charlie Chaplin.

And though the world is filled with sadness, she only reflects wonder.

With those big eyes.

It’s a big world.

Out here.

And so I hope I find a girl with an artichoke head like Gelsomina.

Her heart is pure.

She’s not dumb.

She just hasn’t the opportunities.

When you come from the farthest reaches of the planet.

Furthest from “civilization”…

What is your highest dream?

You only start dreaming when you hear of the outside.

The outside world.

Dancing and singing and learning a trade.

Good god, this film is brilliant…

 

-PD