Watching this for about the 7th time, first time on Criterion's DVD with extra scenes, it occurred to me how Oscar and the Hypnotist could have been in on the scam together.
Who know's how many other women they set up, perhaps in other towns. And what about a slight resemblance between the two???
I guess it's possible, but I personally don't believe it. There were plenty of men in that audience who could have hit on Cabiria that night.
shareThat's true Greenteeth, the place had more Oscars than that other famous, overhyped ceremony.
I was just fishing for a bite
I hope that's not your read, Bronson. To view it that way is to miss the beauty and the entire point of the scene, I think. Good for you for being provocative though.
Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot.
Yeah, I wondered about that myself. Doesn't help that the magician was wearing those devil horns under his hat...
But in the end, Oscar just struck me as too much of a loner to be working with a crew.
My hunch is that "Oscar" was scamming independently. Who knows if his name was even Oscar? Perhaps he was a perverse opportunist... Through Cabiria's actions while she was hypnotized, he saw that she was romantic and wanted to be loved, and that she could be easily convinced that she was loved if someone was persistent enough. The wheels were spinning while he was watching in the audience, and then he made up the whole "Oscar/fate" thing to further appeal to her.
I always wondered why he felt he needed her money though. He was well off enough to treat her to gifts and dinners, and dress well.
I wondered about that too: was she set up? And, significance of hyponotist's devil horns?
But, I think the scenario proves what they say about being conned: the victim enables the conman: she revealed too much about her desires & dreams, so the conman took advantage.
(1) I've always assumed that Oscar happened to be in the audience, and recognized an opportunity. He didn't seem sophisticated enough to be involved in a complex scam.
(2) The devil's horns seem to me to be Fellini's way of drawing parallels between the Church and the Theater, tho two GREAT SHOWS that are presented to keep people entertained and in a sense of non-reality, perpetually weak in order to be exploited.
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
to rock my soul
When the hypnotist saw that Cabiria was getting emotional, that she really wanted someone (expressed under hypnosis) he broke the spell--you can see in his eyes that he knew he had gone too deeply, so he stopped the spell. So he did the right thing--but "Oscar Donofrio" was in the audience and saw a vulnerable person (who had said she owns her own house), a perfect victim. So I don't think there was any collusion between the hypnotist and "Oscar".
shareYeah, it's more likely that the scammer, after assisting the show and having found a victim in Cabiria, pretended his name was Oscar.
I'm Winston Wolf. I solve problems.
...And no dream is ever... just a dream...