"Nights of Cabiria"

…He met Rossellini just after the war, and became one of his staff members, playing an important role in the Neorealism movement. Fellini was hailed as the “new genius” of Italian cinema due to the international success of “La Strada,” and was considered a typical Italian man, a “social Catholic” whose ideas were baptized by Mediterranean and Western culture. However, after “La Strada” and “The Cliffs” (1955) and “Nights of Cabiria” (1957), which were called the “Trilogy of Solitude,” Fellini released “La Dolce Vita” (1960), whose title became popular in Europe as a term for decadence and hedonism. The Vatican, which interpreted the film as a satire of commercialized religion, condemned it as an “anti-Christian film,” and, working with the upper classes, which interpreted it as a condemnation of sexual corruption and spiritual poverty, organized and violent protests against its screening. Although films such as Casanova (1975) and The Orchestra Rehearsal (1979) have been criticized for being "self-indulgent," The Boat Sails, which he made in 1984, is a work that culminates Fellini's technique of creating a fictional, fantastical world using fables that satirize modern times, and is widely regarded as a masterpiece that combines the poetry of The Strada, the sophistication of La Dolce Vita, the charm of Amarcord, and the surrealist humor of The Orchestra Rehearsal.

*Some of the terminology used in "Nights of Cabiria" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…戦争直後にロッセリーニと出会い，彼のスタッフの一人となって，〈ネオレアリズモ〉の重要な一翼を担うこととなった。　《道》の国際的成功によってイタリア映画の〈新しい天才〉とうたわれたフェリーニは，典型的なイタリア人でその思想は地中海文明と西欧文化の洗礼を受けた〈社会的カトリック主義者〉とみなされていたが，《道》とともに〈孤独の三部作〉といわれる《崖》(1955)と《カビリアの夜》(1957)のあと，その題名がヨーロッパで退廃と享楽生活をあらわすことばとして流行した《甘い生活》(1960)が公開されたときは，商業化した宗教を揶揄（やゆ）されたと解釈した教皇庁が〈反キリスト映画〉であると非難し，性的腐敗と精神的貧困を弾劾されたと解釈した上流階級と協力して，組織的で暴力的な上映反対運動を起こしたという。《カサノバ》(1975)，《オーケストラ･リハーサル》(1979)などは〈自己満足〉を指摘されたりもしたが，1984年につくった《船が行く》は，現代を風刺する寓話を題材にして虚構の空想的世界をつくりあげるフェリーニの手法を集大成した作品であり，《道》の詩情，《甘い生活》の精緻（せいち）さ，《フェリーニのアマルコルド》の魅力，《オーケストラ･リハーサル》のシュルレアリスム的なユーモアを兼ねそなえた傑作との声が高い。…

※「《カビリアの夜》」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報