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WOJCIECH

MICHERA

N ights of C abiria by

Federico Fellini
(Anthropological Notes)

In Federico Fellini’s film Nights of Cabiria I distin­
guish three thematic sequences as well as a "prologue”
and an “epilogue”.

’’Prologue” : River

C

abiria and Giorgio, a balloon salesman, are on
a date and strolling along a river. Suddenly,
the young man pushes the girl into the water
and snatches her purse containing 40 000 lire. Drow­
ning, Cabiria calls out for help and sinks in the river.
She is rescued by three boys, who pull her out onto the
riverbank (not the one along which she was originally
walking, but the opposite one).
The mythological context of this scene is rather
obvious. The river is a boundary whose crossing de­
notes transformation, especially considering that this
is the Tiber. (In addition, Cabiria is a prostitute; cf.
Latin: lupa). The incident in the film resembles a sui
generis rite of submersion and brings to mind baptism.
This ritual-initiation meaning of the scene is under­
lined by the comments made by the girl’s saviours and
the numbers they mention: Did she go under? - Three
times. - At least seven times! - Ten times!
Cabiria loses consciousness, a state that depicts
death (Looks dead to me - says one of the rescuers).
Before she regains consciousness (She opened her eyes)
she is lifted in a comical manner by her legs, which ac­
centuates the abnormal and upside-down character of
the situation in which she has found herself.
During the fatal crossing of the river Cabiria loses
a shoe. This is an obvious suggestion that we are deal­
ing with a transformation of the Cinderella myth, from
which the interpretation performed by Fellini extract­
ed deeply concealed and, as a rule, ignored strata.
The prologue of the film could be interpreted as an
image of an initiation experience composed of symbol­
ic death and rebirth. In this case, however, the scene
is barely an "opening”, the beginning of the path, with
Cabiria attempting to change her life. The loss of a
slipper (similarly as in the tale about Cinderella) guar­
antees that a return to the normal world would not
264

be final. The river also concludes the story in the epi­
logue: Cabiria once again finds herself next to a river,
this time on a high escarpment, together with a fiancé
whose love she does not doubt.
Now, however, Cabiria is at the onset of a dan­
gerous journey across a world possessing the multiple
features of a menacing netherworld. This is why in the
story’s composition the world of Cabiria succumbs to
sui generis metamorphoses and gains the traits of an
alien reality. Take the chronologically first example:
when she returns home after the incident Cabiria is
compelled to enter not through the door (the keys are
in the lost handbag) but through a window.
It is only then that she realises just how close she
was to death. What if I had died? - she wonders. It is
precisely the experience of death that inclines her to
make a decision about forsaking her former life. (Can’t
you see I had enough?), confirmed by burning all of
Giorgio’s belongings outside the house (purification
by water is thus followed by cleansing by fire).
A t this point, Cabiria emulates the gesture (digni­
fied, by the standards of a suburban prostitute) per­
formed by the despondent Dido abandoned by Aeneas
- a ritual whose purpose in the Aeneid is revenge upon
an unfaithful lover (sympathetic magic of sorts) and
preparation for own death. Dido asks her sister:
Build a pyre, secretly, in an inner courtyard, open
to the sky,
and place the weapons on it which that impious
man left
hanging in my room, and the clothes, and the brid­
al bed
that undid me: I want to destroy all memories
of that wicked man ...
Virgil, Aeneid, Book IV, 494-498
(In the course of this ritual, Dido has one foot free
of constraint). Cabiria, who in this fashion severed her
ties with the past, is now facing three trials.

ALa

Trial I: Hell - Heaven (
Hollywood)

Cabiria is a lowly prostitute whose rank is expressed
by her place of work: Passeggiata Archeologica. True,
she is treated by the habitués as slightly odd and flip­
pant, but here she feels “at home” and unrestrained.
On this particular evening Cabiria resolves to set off
exceptionally to the exclusive via Veneto, where el­
egant prostitutes promenade next to equally stylish
venues. For a girl from the provinces this is a totally
alien terrain, she feels awkward and does not know
how to behave (and almost falls under a car). Her es­
capade can be perceived as a first act and attempt at
abandoning her tawdry life and a quest for something
new and better.

Wojciech Michera • N IG H T S o F C A B IR IA BY FEDERICO FELLINI

This extraordinary and almost magical world appears
to be conducive for Cabiria: a miracle happens. After a
quarrel with his fiancée, a famous film star Alberto Lazzari (played by an actor named Amadeo Nazzari) beck­
ons her, standing nearby and observing the incident
with interest, to his smart convertible. The meaning of
the following scene - filmed according to a Hollywood
recipe but clearly featuring the features of a pastiche
(the smiling and happy girl-Cinderella rides at the side
of a magnificent man of her dreams in a beautiful car,
to the accompaniment of suddenly different, romantic
music) - is multi-storeyed: it depicts both the true mood
of the overjoyed Cabiria as well as her naïveté and the
illusory character of the whole sudden transformation.
During her fairy-tale journey Cabiria visits two
places: subterranean hell and heaven, both extremely
attractive.
The first stage is an elegant NIG H T CLUB. En­
tering it is by no means an easy feat just as the unau­
thorised crossing of the boundary of the netherworlds:
it is protected by fierce Cerberi-guards. A while lat­
er Cabiria is unable to extricate herself from drapes
concealing a passage. She overcomes both obstacles
thanks to her "divine” guide.
Inside the "infernal” club a band plays exotic
rhythms, with dark-skinned female dancers moving to
the beat. The ambiance is rather artificial and stiff,
and the behaviour of all those present is slow-motion
and unnatural. The still faces of the women sitting at
the tables, as if lifeless, express surprise at the presence
and conduct of the intruder, who is the only person to
spontaneously express her joy and feelings once the
couples begin to dance.
From the infernal underworld the path leads to
THE A C T O R ’S HOME - a villa on the edge of town.
The most sacred interior of this temple, the bedroom,
is on the first floor. The steep stairs leading to it, in the
manner of Jacob’s ladder or the Scala sancta in a Ro­
man sanctuary, seem to reach the sky and their upper
part glistens with unusual light. Here too, along the
boundary, we encounter Cerberi-guards: two dogs run
down the stairs.
The entire villa, in particular the bedroom, is full
of assorted plants, trees, parrots and fish, comprising
a setting straight out of paradise. It also brims with
diverse wonders: a wall decoration resembles a mon­
strance, a wardrobe opens automatically, the music is
of a variety that Cabiria has never heard before, and
the served dishes are unfamiliar and strange. The bed,
in the manner of an altar on which a deity reclines,
has a baldachin supported by characteristically twisted
columns copied from the altar in the basilica of St. Pe­
ter in Rome (this element was preserved by Bob Foss
in an American remake of Fellini’s film).
Partaking of supper at this bed-altar Cabiria weeps
with joy: Who’s gonna believe this when I tell 'em!
26 5

If the film were to adhere to the Hollywood con­
vention it would end right here. But then we would
be dealing with yet another version of the Cinderella-story scenario for Pretty Woman. The Fellini film,
however, keeps its distance towards the myth and
breaks it or rather grants it the rank of existential au­
thenticity.
The miracle vanishes. Illusion is defeated by truth.
Alberto’s fiancée returns. Throughout the whole night
the idol conceals Cabiria in a bathroom and then sends
her away. The girl refuses to accept money; this would,
after all, ultimately break her unexpected connections
with this heavenly world, but she is to be robbed also
of this illusion - Alberto insists on paying her and the
festivity turns into ordinary service rendered. Cabiria
leaves the netherworld, hurting her nose against the
invisible glass door of the palace. She goes back home.
Nothing has changed.

Trial II: holy mountain
this time the trial is openly religious: a pilgrimage
to a Marian sanctuary. The essence of its failure, how­
ever, remains the same: falsehood, lack of authentic­
ity, and artificiality just as great as in high society styl­
ised to resemble the American cinema.
Initially, when the habitués of Passeggiata Archeologica (including a cripple counting on a mi­
raculous cure) plan with religious fervour a Sun ­
day trip to M adonna del Divine Amore, Cabiria
remains unconvinced. Apparently, her experiences
with death (the river, the lost slipper) make it pos­
sible to suspect the unauthentic nature of the whole
enterprise that, contrary to appearances, does not
surpass daily life. Ridden with doubt she turns to
a friend: What am I asking for? but decides to join
the pilgrimage when she sees a procession walking
down the street, a sight that apparently instilled
some hope.
The sanctuary, this time ostensibly real (i.e. un­
derstood literally), is located on top of a mountain. A
crowd of pilgrims, including Cabiria, climbs the slope.
Holy stairs - holy mountain: in mythological catego­
ries they signify the same, i.e. the road to heaven.
Unfortunately, here too sanctity is an illusion. The
cripple calculates it into money, and women succumb
either to the mood of fairground fun (We’re gonna get
photos!) or hysterical religiosity waiting for a miracle.
Only Cabiria, just as in the nightclub, is distinctive
due to the authenticity of her involvement. She prays:
Madonna, help me... to change my life. Bestow your grace
on me too.
After the service everyone enjoys a picnic, eating,
drinking, and having fun, all with the exception of
Cabiria, sad and lost in thought. The dialogue with
her friend, Wanda, clearly demonstrates the sense of
personal tragedy:

Wojciech Michera • N IG H T S o F C A B IR IA BY FEDERICO FELLINI

Cabiria We haven’t changed. Nobody’s
changed! W e’re all the same as before, just like the
cripple.
Wanda - What do you want to change, Cabiria??
Cabiria - You think this is the end? You know what
I’m gonna do? I’m gonna sell the house. Everything. I’m
leaving. . Good-bye... I’m through with all this!
This part of the film ends just as it started: with
a procession. This time, inebriated Cabiria jeers and
accuses the women taking part in it of hypocrisy and
falsehood, and calls them “little nuns”: Did the M a­
donna give you mercy?
Fellini refuses not succumb to illusion. He traces
falsehood even in those places, which claim to have
exclusive rights to truth. A person desiring authen­
tic transformation cannot preserve anything from his
heretofore life, even a ready-made model of metamor­
phosis. Repeatable ritual is thus treated as a bogus
phenomenon. Those incapable of abandoning all (see:
Cabiria’s evangelical words: I’m gonna sell the house.
Everything. I’m leaving...) shall never change or reach
heaven.

Trial III: magic and miracle
each of the trials to which Cabiria is subjected, and
which she takes on, is associative with entering space
possessing all the features of the mythical netherworld:
alieness, distinctness marked with a boundary difficult
to cross, peripheral or central location, a variously
understood sacrum, strangeness, and wonder. In the
third trial this space is a variety show.
Here, the tawdriness and illusory character of the
proposed metamorphosis are literal: the role of the
priest is assumed by a magician-hypnotist in the guise of
a sorcerer. It is, however, precisely in this manner - ac­
cording to the principle of mutually exclusive opposites
- that the events transpiring on stage seem to assume
the traits of specific authenticity, especially when they
cross the limits of the commonplace tricks performed
by a magician. Something whose genuine character
cannot be doubted, is taking place. In this respect, the
whole situation brings to mind the celebrated scene
from The Master and Margarita and even more so the
spectacle given by an illusionist-hypnotist in Thomas
Mann’s Mario and the Magician. In the case of the Fel­
lini vision, the most authentic in the circus tackiness of
the variété appears to be the magician’s magnetic force.
Cabiria takes part in a hypnosis spectacle. First a
group of men crosses the sea (a recurrence of the motif
from the ” prologue”). As always, Cabiria is afraid and
initially refuses the magician’s invitation (Mind you, I
have my own house....), and then she succumbs totally
to the spell and returns to the days of her youth.
Right in front of the audience, the magnetiser forc­
es Cabiria to tell the truth about her feelings, and then

arranges a "fantastic” date. Cabiria, now under the as­
sumed name of Maria, experiences authentic ardent
love for a fictitious young man named Oscar; they
meet, she picks flowers to make a wreath, and con­
ducts romantic conversations (asking with hope: Then
it’s true? You really love me? Is it really true? You’re not
trying to fool me? Do you really love me?). The sincerity
with which she professes her feeling is so great that the
magician (wearing a carnival hat with devil’s horns)
becomes disconcerted by the extraordinary outcome
of his tricks and interrupts the séance. Cabiria collaps­
es in a faint, and the gathered crowd greets her while
laughing heartily.
The show is illusion, but Cabiria’s feelings are true
- there is no doubt that the importance of this event
is greater than that of the two previous trials. This
impression seems it be confirmed by the unexpected
effect of the séance: the released force of emotions
evokes a real Oscar who by accident (As if guided by
fate, to cite his words) found himself in the audience
and in that part of Rome.
A third chance for a miracle. Upon this occasion,
a humble accountant from the provinces, an orphan,
appears to be a man worthy of Cabiria and, at the
same time, totally different from her acquaintances
from Passeggiata Archeologica: well-mannered, dis­
creet and gentle. Most importantly, he is truly in love.
Apparently, three times lucky - this time Fellini will
permit his protagonist to attain her goal.
Certain unrest is introduced by Brother Giovanni,
a Franciscan. Met accidentally (?), he instructs Ca­
biria: Everyone should be in g o d ’s grace. Whoever lives in
g o d ’s grace is happy. Since Brother Giovanni does live
in God’s grace he apparently possesses nothing else or
has no need for anything more. He is God’s fool, happy
and free, who has truly renounced the heretofore world
and experienced transformation. I’m at the San Franc­
esco Monastery, but I’m hard to find. I’m always running
around. Later, it turns out that he is not even a monk
and thus cannot (or: does not have to) hear confes­
sion. He remains outside all formal configuration, even
the Church. We feel that he had discovered the truth,
while Cabiria has only started searching for it.
Meanwhile, the miracle still works and Oscar propos­
es marriage (Cabiria assures Wanda: You’ll get a miracle,
like me). This is the first time that she implements the
earlier, constantly repeated decision: she abandons all.
She even sells her house, the frequently recalled sym­
bol of her stabilisation and the centre of her secure life,
however pitiful it might appear. It is worth recalling that
she already told Albert Lazzari: Mind you, I have my own
house... with water, electricity, bottled gas, every convenience.
I got everything. Even a thermometer. See this one here? She
never, ever slept under an arch. (Note the interesting and
recurring theme of the thermometer, an instrument mak­
ing it possible to check concurrence with the norm).

266

Wojciech Michera • N IG H T S O F C A B IR IA BY FEDERICO FELLINI

While leaving, Cabiria takes almost nothing with
the exception of a portrait of her mother. The sever­
ance is to be absolute. The gesture stressing this act
involves small change handed to two poor children - a
symbolic payment of all debts. Cabiria decorates her
head with a wreath of sorts, a symbol of purity, and is
ready to set off on genuine journey towards a new life.
A bus takes her into the unknown.

Epilogue. River, ° Cursed” Wood And
Carnival
The "Epilogue” is a sui generis repetition of the pro­
logue. Oscar, strangely changed, wearing sunglasses
and smoking a cigarette, now resembles Giorgio from
the opening scenes of the film rather than his earlier
self. Once again, the heart of the matter is money in
Cabiria’s purse, but this time the sum is 350 000 lire.
Oscar takes Cabiria for a walk (Let’s go. The sun­
set is beautiful in the woods). They wander westwards,
across a W OOD, which changes into the antecham­
ber of HELL. Cabiria picks flowers, just like during the
hypnotic trance at the variété:
Oscar - Come. I know a shortcut.
Cabiria - Oscar! Where are you? What a bad boy you
are! Look at these flowers. Like 'em? They stink, but still.
I never saw flowers like these before... What’s wrong? Are
you sad? Why don’t we carve our initials on the trees?
Oscar - Let’s go. The sunset is beautiful in the
woods.
Cabiria - The sunset, eh? Where do you wanna go?
They reach a high river escarpment.
Cabiria: What a strange light. Beautiful, isn’t it? I
guess there is some justice in the world. You suffer, you go
through hell but then happiness comes along for everyone.
You’ve been my angel.
By now we know that he is a fallen angel: Cabiria
is wrong once again. Oscar’s hand, which she kisses,
is ice cold. The question: Can you swim? confirms our
suspicions about his intentions. The reply resembles
the beginning of a journey whose end is now nigh: Not
me! I almost drowned once. But they saved me. Just imag­
ine! I was pushed in!
Back to the beginning: at this very moment Cabiria
deciphers Oscar’s intention from the expression on his
face: What’s wrong? What’s the matter? You don’t want
to kill me, do you? Answer me! You want to kill me? You
want to kill me! Don’t just stand there. Say something! ...
For... the money? For the money. Kill me! Kill me! Throw
me off the cliff! I don’t want to live anymore. Oscar flees
with Cabiria’s purse.
Now for the last sequence of the film. Cabiria
awakens on a riverbank. Holding a strange flower,
a souvenir of death, she returns through the forest.
267

This time - only now! - she has lost everything: home,
money, all the support in the world known to her, and,
predominantly, the wish to live, all hope. Perhaps this
third trial was a success after all?
Suddenly, there resounds surprisingly gay music.
In the centre of the wood there appear several mer­
rymakers, dressed in costumes and wearing tall hats
resembling those of a wizard; someone is playing a
saxophone, someone else a guitar, someone is singing,
everyone is dancing. This woodland carnival should
be comprehended as a sign confirming the rejection
of heretofore observed norms, but also as a symbol of
hope, transformation, renascence (one of the revellers
says: Maurizio, hurry up! We’re leaving! We’re gonna lose
our way going home!).
The whole group surrounds Cabiria. All play for
her and the guitarist barks like a dog. The words ut­
tered by a girl in a hat, who smiling greets Cabiria:
“Good evening”, as if welcoming her, new born, to a
new world, assume special importance. Cabiria tear­
fully replies, smiling for the first time. With a small
nod of her head she greets everyone, including the
viewers - for a fraction of a second she gazes straight
at the camera.
This barely discernible smile is a sign than Cabiria’s
quest has ended successfully.

*
Frequent mention is made of the ease with which
Federico Fellini used to alter the details of his biog­
raphy recounted to journalists. His stories resembled
more the creation of the part of a film character than
an official life story. Particular events, activity, words
and statements recalled elements of a work of art, just
like metaphors in a poem that cannot be treated liter­
ally.
A recognised and as it were confirmed biography
denotes becoming accustomed, the subjection of one’s
life to a certain scheme rendering us distant from our­
selves and our truth, full of paradoxes and contradic­
tions. This is why Fellini apparently attached utmost
importance to a concession to naïveté and ridiculous­
ness, a sign of the absence of adaptation and being
inured.
One of the symptoms of searching for the truth is
naive astonishment - so frequently demonstrated by
Cabiria. She is surprised by that, which everyone else
regards as obvious because it is “normal” and recurs
according to an old scheme. Such naive wonder - ex­
tremely comical - is an indication of coming closer to
the truth and even sanctity.
Contrary to all appearances, Fellini, a master of
blasphemy, was simultaneously engaged in a quest for
sanctity free of convention and hypocrisy. Blasphemy,
or rather a state described by some as such, possesses,
similarly to laughter, a purifying power. In my opin-

Wojaech Michera • N IG H T S O F C A B IR IA BY FEDERICO FELLINI

ion Fellini’s films, starting with the most celebrated
La Strada, tell about man’s path towards such a state.
The same holds true for Nights of Cabiria, a film about
a poor Roman prostitute, naive or outright innocent,
who, totally unaware of the rules of the game, seeks
love, happiness and feelings. The dramatic consist­
ency with which Fellini shows the tragedy lurking in
the Cinderella myth is incredible. In doing so, he dem­
onstrated that naiveté is tantamount to believing in a
miracle produced by a good fairy. It is just as naive to
believe in the love of a prince, who having completed
playing the part of a lover returns to his mundane oc­
cupations.
Nonetheless, it is this naïveté, i.e. incessant roam­
ing, that can ultimately guide Cabiria to a dark forest,

to the edge of a precipice and the world, where she
loses absolutely everything and even forsakes all hope.
Is this not, however, a situation in which we finally
free ourselves from the illusions created by life and re­
main with the reality of our dreams?
Fellini is not a moralist but a teacher: when in
the closing scene Cabiria’s tearful face displays for a
fleeting moment her distinctive and meaningful smile,
and her eyes for a brief, almost unperceivable split of
a second look straight at the camera, Fellini appears
to be turning towards us, saying: have the courage to
embrace naïveté - it will guide you all the way to this
point. And it is here that true life begins.

G iu lie tt a M a s in a in Nights of Cabiria b y F e d e r ic o F e llin i

268