-A naive young (Giulietta Masina) is sold by her impoverished mother to the brutish strongman (Anthony Quinn) to replace her previously sold sister Rosa, now dead. The two go on the road as part of his show, which consists of puffing his chest until a chain breaks and some comedy stuff.-Giulliette Masina is like the female Chaplin. Her character here, often going from silly and clownish to depressed and miserable, an abused stooge to Anthony Quinn's asshole one-man circus, and you just want to give her a hug, she's just so sad. She'll smile at the strangest times, this delirious smile that could either lead to a laugh or a cry.
-Anthony Quinn's character, as mentioned, is a douchebag. Although Masina is eager to help and learn, he still relies on outright cruelty to train her to be a good assistant, and rarely, if ever, treats her kindly. Quinn makes a good tough guy, though.
-A lighthearted tone even as situations get direly depressing, and a simple story that gets more complicated if you try to analyze it, as often will happen. Poetic, an vibe that it is incomplete, a lukewarmness, you'll laugh in the face of the movie's...not nihilism. Anti-optimism.
-Next time I get a pet, I'm naming it Il Matto.
-Seriously, go Il Matto.