Why so old?

I've heard so many good things about Fellini, and La Strada was my first Fellini film. I wanted to like it; really I did. And I think I would have, had someone younger played Gelsomina.

I know that comes off as really shallow, so let me explain. I'm not complaining that she was no supermodel, or claiming that she was a bad actress; I'm complaining that I had no idea how to approach her character. Before popping this movie in, I purposely avoided researching anything beyond the little I knew about it, since I wanted to form my own opinions without being influenced by others. Because of this, however, I didn't know Gelsomina was supposed to be a young girl.

When I first saw the clearly thirty-something-year-old actress, I had no clue whether she was supposed to be a child or an older, mentally-handicapped woman. The younger siblings surrounding her suggested the former, but well, she was just so old-looking that it was hard to be sure. Besides, if she was supposed to be so young, why wasn't at least one person scandalized that this forty-year-old man was her husband? I mean, times were different and all, but really? And if she was supposed to be older, why would strangers treat her as if she were twelve?

The person I was watching it with was equally confused, and we spent the first half hour of the movie trying to figure it out. Finally, we just paused it and looked it up, but by then, the damage was done. Time that could have been spent drawing us into the story and characters had been squandered. Even after we knew better, it was impossible to see this character as physically childlike, since she looked old enough to have a daughter about the age of the girl she was playing.

I suppose it shouldn't matter; when you watch a naive, innocent person so broken, it shouldn't matter whether the person is fourteen or forty. Still, there's just something more visceral and gut-wrenching about watching it happen to a child. And I'd be willing to accept there might be some symbolic reason for making her look older, but if that's the case, well, sometimes artistic intention just doesn't work the way it's supposed to.

Admittedly, the visuals were lovely and the film certainly gives its audience something to ruminate on after the tape stops rolling. Also, this wasn't the only thing I disliked about the film. But because I was constantly jarred out of the story, I found it harder to appreciate.

Anyone else feel the same?