Nights of Cabiria

Nights of Cabiria Italian Le notti di Cabiria is a 1957 Italian drama film directed by Federico Fellini and starring Giulietta Masina, Franois Prier, and Amedeo Nazzari. Based on a story by Fellini, the film is about a prostitute in Rome who searches for true love in vain.

A happy, laughing Cabiria Giulietta Masina is standing on a river bank with her current boyfriend and livein lover, Giorgio Franco Fabrizi. Suddenly he pushes her into the river and steals her purse which is full of money. She cannot swim and nearly drowns, but is rescued by a group of young boys and revived at the last possible moment by helpful ordinary people who live a little further down the river. In spite of just saving her life, she treats them with disdain and starts looking for Giorgio.Cabiria returns to her small home, but Giorgio has disappeared. She is bitter, and when her best friend and neighbor, Wanda Franca Marzi tries to help her get over him, Cabiria shoos her away and remains disgruntled. She continues to ply her trade as a prostitute. One night, she is outside a fancy nightclub and witnesses a fight between famous movie star, Alberto Lazzari Amedeo Nazzari, as hes dumped by his girlfriend. The differences in appearance between the glamorous girlfriend in a mink coat and the disheveled and short Cabiria are stark. The jilted Lazzari takes the starstruck Cabiria to another club and then to his house, where Cabiria is astounded by the opulence of his house. As the two are finally becoming closer after a rather standoffish few hours, Lazzaris girlfriend returns and Cabiria is shuffled off to the bathroom, unable to consummate with a movie star. ........

Source: Wikipedia