Retrospective 2015

Umberto D.

Vittorio De Sica
I 1952
88 min
V'15

This neorealist masterpiece follows an elderly pensioner as he strives to make ends meet during Italy’s postwar economic recovery. Alone except for his dog, Flike, Umberto struggles to maintain his dignity in a city where human kindness seems to have been swallowed up by the forces of modernization. His simple quest to satisfy his basic needs – food, shelter, companionship – makes for one of the most heartbreaking stories ever filmed, and an essential classic of world cinema. “De Sica had spent his life in show business; in his youth, he had been Italy’s most popular star. He knew that sentiment is as legitimate a mode of storytelling as irony or satire, so long as the sentiment is honest – which I believe it is in UMBERTO D. If the main character feels that his humanity itself is slipping away, his sense of being a proper man, then why shouldn’t he have a sentimental relationship with a dog?” (Stuart Klawans)

Supporting film: CANI DIETRO LE SBARRE

Credits
  • Carlo Battisti - Umberto Domenico Ferrari
  • Maria Pia Casilio - Maria
  • Lina Gennari - Antonia Belloni
  • Vittorio De Sica
  • Cesare Zavattini
  • Aldo Graziati
  • Ennio Sensi
  • Eraldo Da Roma
  • Alessandro Cicognini
  • Virgilio Marchi
Rizzoli, De Sica, Amato
35 mm
bw
Related Movies