Music in Nights of Cabiria

Nights of Cabiria’s music brings into better focus the journey of self-discovery in Cabiria. One scene in particular draws attention to this journey and her continual want for her life to be something she is not ashamed to admit. Cabiria runs into Father Giovanni on the road as he is off to do good will. The music here changes to quite a different tempo. The high beat happy music that has been the regular score becomes very pensive and mysterious. The music evokes a gentle and almost relaxing quality.

The music in this scene persuades us to believe that something otherworldly and different is happening than what has been presented so far in the narrative. The scene is not comedic or lighthearted as opposed to the rest of the film, rather it takes on a more serious tone. Father Giovanni represents what Cabiria wants in life. She wants to be able to be happy with her life for she is desperately unhappy. She sees the purity and unashamed lives of the monks and nuns as something she strives for because they are happy with themselves and their way of life. Cabiria wants to change her life into something respectable for she believes then she will achieve happiness. Father Giovanni encourages this by saying that everyone should be in God’s graces and every woman needs to be married and have children to achieve this.

                The score influences us to also believe that this mysterious encounter is also representative of a sacred space as explained in Eliade’s The Sacred and the Profane. A sacred space is something that is significantly different from the rest of the homogenous space. Space has, “interruptions, breaks in it,” (Eliade 20) that represent the sacred. Much of the rest of the score is very similar while this piece is very different. The mysterious quality of it is what helps persuade that this scene represents a sacred space. The scene shows what Cabiria wants her life to be and that she holds Father Giovanni in high regard for she sees him as pure and happy making this scene sacred.

                This small scene of music allows us to see the difference it makes in the larger score. This piece tells us of Cabiria’s search for a better life. In the following scenes, she follows Father Giovanni’s advice to become a better woman by trying to get married and leaving her old life behind to start anew. The larger score also influences how the audience is supposed to feel or at least give subtle clues in order to better understand the movie from the viewpoint of the director. We can experience the tension in the more lively scenes and release in the tender, gentle scenes based on the rise and fall of the music and the tone each part of the score takes. The music helps gives the interpretation of the film that the audience should be able to understand.