Perhaps remembered foremost for directing what is considered by many to be one of the best films of all time, Bicycle Thieves (1948), one of Italy’s forefathers of neorealism, Vittorio De Sica is arguably not as glorified for the rest of his excellent filmography, as may be the work of some of his peers, like Rossellini or Visconti. Criterion revitalizes one of his other well known neorealist classics, the tender and moving Umberto D. to Blu-ray this month, and it’s easy to see how the film has withstood the tests of time as a beautiful blend of social commentary of post WWII life in Italy, as well as a moving portrait of an affectionate relationship between a man and his dog in a cold, apathetic world.
During a protest demonstration enacted by a group of angry pensioners demanding more money than the meager amount they’re allotted, police officers...
During a protest demonstration enacted by a group of angry pensioners demanding more money than the meager amount they’re allotted, police officers...
- 9/25/2012
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Yesterday I wrote about movie time travel, today someone drove a DeLorean to Ebertfest. I'm quickly beginning to realize it's that sort of film festival: fun, whimsical, and totally dedicated to the movies. It's so relaxed too. Because it's not a market, or a place where new films premiere, there's none of the pressure I typically associate with film festivals. Nobody's here to tell you how they spent four years of their lives and their parents' savings on their movie about the endangered marmot. People really let their hair down.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Day 2 began with its hair up, with a panel dedicated to Ebert's Far-Flung Correspondents, a brigade of writers and critics from all over the world. I tend to shrivel away at the prospect of critics talking about -- and invariably complaining about -- themselves, but this was something different, less a panel discussion...
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Day 2 began with its hair up, with a panel dedicated to Ebert's Far-Flung Correspondents, a brigade of writers and critics from all over the world. I tend to shrivel away at the prospect of critics talking about -- and invariably complaining about -- themselves, but this was something different, less a panel discussion...
- 4/29/2011
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
Flike, Carlo Battisti in Vittorio De Sica's Umberto D. Umberto D. Review Part I Still, Vittorio De Sica's film is most of all about human indifference to suffering: The sons of a dying man laugh at his bedside in the hospital; the pound workers blithely take the dogs to their deaths; Umberto's old co-workers look askance at him — as if he's diseased — when he tells them of his need; the nanny of a rich girl cares more about her beau than the girl; a woman beats a rug out her window as a poor man is dirtied by its dust below. Many other such moments abound in Umberto D. On the other hand, there is the oft-commented upon scene where Maria goes through her morning routine, fixing breakfast in the kitchen, smoking out the ants, and grinding coffee beans, only to end as we see her holding back...
- 3/14/2011
- by Dan Schneider
- Alt Film Guide
Umberto D. (1952) Direction: Vittorio De Sica Cast: Carlo Battisti, Maria-Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari Screenplay: Cesare Zavattini Oscar Movies Flike, Carlo Battisti, Umberto D. By Dan Schneider of Cosmoetica Lost between the glare of The Bicycle Thief (1948) and his later films with Sophia Loren, Vittorio De Sica's 1952 drama Umberto D. stands as an almost forgotten masterpiece of Italian neorealism and one of the last films that could claim to be of that movement alone. Upon its release, Umberto D. was pilloried by a few cineastes who, unable to understand the chasm between true sentiment and false sentimentality, found it too maudlin, and by myopic critics — mostly left-wing dilettantes — who thought that the formerly middle-class civil servant's tale was not "socially conscious" enough for the filmmaker to waste his talents on. Umberto D. flopped, but it has steadily risen in De Sica's pantheon; it is now thought of as [...]...
- 3/14/2011
- by Dan Schneider
- Alt Film Guide
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