Santa Claus either needs a new calendar or ....

Whether Saint Nickolas (aka Santa Claus) became confused about the dates or his gift-giving burden is becoming so tremendously huge and out of control that he needs to leave a month early to ensure all the good little boys and little girls and puppy dogs receive a gift under their trees is a matter of dispute. Buddy W. Fram could care less about the reason .... he simply is happy and thrilled to have a new bed for afternoon naps.

A review is a review is a review .... or is it?

Part 1 of 2

"Realism is a bad word. In a sense everything is realistic. I see no line between the imaginary and the real." -- Federico Fellini, movie maker ....

"Anybody can look at a pretty girl and see a pretty girl. An artist can look at a pretty girl and see the old woman she will become. A better artist can look at an old woman and see the pretty girl that she used to be. But a great artist .... can look at an old woman, portray her exactly as she is .... and force the viewer to see the pretty girl she used to be .... " -- Robert A. Heinlein, writer ....

As a graduate-student-college-boy, I took a class on foreign films -- "foreign flicks" -- as we called them, which included some by Federico Fellini which often have been described as a blend of fantasy and reality. In this class, we would watch a film one day, write a review / criticism / critique of it to be turned in at the next class, which centered on a discussion of the movie we had seen, and then, during a third classroom day, discuss / argue / debate our written evaluations.

I thoroughly enjoyed the class, and the two elements which absolutely amazed me were how often we agreed on elements of the film and how often and widely ranging our disagreements were. There, you see my logic for multiple reviewers of books and performances -- which will be clarified in Part 2 of this piece.

My memory about these things was stirred by having recently watched, "La Strada,"  a 1954 Italian film directed by Fellini. It translates into "The Road."  This is one Fellini flick I had not seen before. I will not comment on it other than to mention I think the movie is a minor masterpiece, in the least,  (although I hesitate to name a major film masterpiece) and the casting could not have been better done.

The central characters are Gelsomina, a young woman played by Giulietta Masina, Fellini's wife; Zampanò, a brutish, angry man portrayed by Anthony Quinn; and Il Matto, a high wire performer and clown played by Richard Basehart.

I never have cared for Quinn simply because he is brutish in appearance and often portrays such creatures in movie roles -- but, he is a fine actor and between his appearance and his talent is perfect for this character.

Likewise with Basehart, in an opposite sense. His appearance is rather wimpish in my eyes, but often he is inappropriately cast as "hero-type" characters. Il Matto literally and figuratively is "The Fool," which is why I believe he fits this part well.

Giulietta Masina, I think, is a bit too old for her part, but the child-like nature of the character and Masina's extraordinary ability to create expressions perfect for the scenes make her the centerpiece of the production. Her talent has been compared to that of Charlie Chaplin.

Might someone else see and interpret this film in different ways? Yes .... absolutely. Even more reason for multiple reviewers. Let us end this now before I find myself trying to analyze the film characters and the actors playing them, or begin to indulge in the history of Italian film making.

There are two videos here – one the soundtrack from the film, "La Strada," composed by Giovanni Rota Rinaldi, an Italian composer, pianist and conductor working under the name of Nino Rota. He was a close friend of Fellini. My own thought is that the music sounds better in context with the film, rather than as a stand-alone piece.

Present also is a tribute piece to Kenneth William David "Ken" Hensley, a guitar and a keyboard man and, most notably, a composer. He died at age 75 on November 4. Hensley joined the hard rock band, Uriah Heep, around Christmas 1969 and wrote or co-wrote many of the group's early songs. He composed "Sunrise" and co-wrote "July Morning" with lead singer, David Garrick, who used the stage name David Byron. I mention those two compositions specifically because they are two of my unconditional favorites .... eloquent thoughts set to music ....

Happy Thanksgiving .... barring the unforeseen, Part 2 will arrive eventually ....