“La Strada” uses cinema so expertly, it creates the kind of impact and emotional experience you can only get from a movie. A landmark in Italian cinema, this powerhouse of a film became one of the world's most influential films, making Fellini and his wife (the film's star Giulietta Masina) internationally famous.

Although there are English subtitles and the voices of the Messrs. Quinn and Basehart have been dubbed into Italian, "La Strada" needs no fuller explanations. It speaks forcefully, poetically and often movingly in a universal language.

That's how he's able ... to use performers from many countries. He does part of the acting for the actors." Since Quinn and Basehart did not speak Italian, both were dubbed in the original release.

The circus gives viewers a glimpse into Fellini's mind and moviemaking, showing what inspired him and why circus arts, acrobats, clowns – and the whimsical fantasy and extravagance surrounding the circus – were, in Fellini's view, a perfect metaphor for life itself with all its mysteries and magic as well as the ...