152 - Variety Lights, 1951, Italy. Dir. Federico Fellini and Alberto Lattuada.

Thursday, June 1, 2017

152 - Variety Lights, 1951, Italy.  Dir. Federico Fellini and Alberto Lattuada.

Her name is Lily.

Or Liliana Antonelli, to be exact.  But you may call her Lily.

Checco does.

Lily wants to act.  On the stage.

Checco is the head--or shall we say, the self-styled smalltime Svengali--of a travelling troupe.  A variety show.

They do a little of this and a little of that.

And make a little of money.

Just enough to sneak onto the train and hide so as not to pay the fare.

Liliana goes to the show.  The variety show.

She watches.  She dreams.  She applauds.

One day she will be up there.

Live theater.  Singing.  Dancing.  Acting.  Doing tricks.  Entertaining the public.  Her name in lights.

LIGHTS!

Liliana boards the train.

She sees the troupe on the train.

She gets excited.

She introduces herself to Checco Del Monte.

She shows him pictures.

Lots of pictures.

This is me dancing.  Here I am on stage.  Look at my outfit.  Here, make sure to see this one.  See what I can do.

Checco is bored.  But he believes he knows how to help her career.

Just not in the way Liliana wants.

She declines.

When the troupe gets off the train they do not have enough money to hire a carriage to take them into the next town.

But Liliana does.  She has the last of her money.  She spends it to hire the carriage.  To take the troupe into town.

They are grateful.  She gets to perform.

The audience is sparse.  The people are bored.  It is an off-night.

Like most of the nights for this troupe.

Until something accidental happens.  A happy accident.  For Lily anyway.

Someone steps on her skirt and tears it.  Now her legs are showing.  Suddenly, the audience is interested.

Backstage she gets in trouble.  But she protests it was not her fault.

Yet none of the acts are getting any response.  And the audience is calling for more of her.

The local promoter wants her on stage.  She goes back out.  She makes up a dance.

The audience loves her.

The people love Lily.

And you know the rest of the story.  As you watch you will think about All About Eve (1950).  The stages are in the sawdust of backwater towns rather than the streets of Broadway, but the stakes are just as high.

When someone is willing to do anything to get what he wants, the stakes are high.

Liliana's star will rise.  Checco will hitch his wagon to it.  Checco's former mistress Melina will move to the background.  Checco and Liliana will try to make a go of it.

But Liliana did not come to save of the troupe.  She has loftier ambitions than playing in barns.

She wants it all.

And other men can give her more than Checco can.

Fellini had been writing screenplays for a decade.

He had written more than twenty.  For several directors.  Most famously for Roberto Rossellini.

And with this film he became a director.

He cast his wife and future international star, Giuletta Masina, as Checco's mistress Melina Amour.

And his co-director Alberto Lattuada cast his wife Carla Del Poggio as the star, Liliana Antonelli.

Lattuada brought the drama.

Fellini brought the comic playfulness.

And worked in some of the themes for which he would become legendary.

Vaudeville.  A troupe of actors.  The vagabond lives of entertainers.  The elusive nature of desire.

Human longing.  Seen through the eyes of clowning.  The three-ring circus of dreams.

A comic look at tragic truths.

A compassionate look at fools.

With a little song and a little dance to wash it down.

Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo!  Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo!  Doo-doo-doo!  Doo-doo-doo-doo!