Umberto D ***** (1952, Carlo Battisti, Maria-Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari, Ileana Simova, Elena Rea) – Classic Movie Review 6150

Co-writer/ director Vittorio De Sica’s classic 1952 humanist, neo-realist drama movie is commandingly shot on location in Rome by the Italian maestro in his prime, though also in the studio at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios.

Based on a story by his co-writer Cesare Zavattini, it is about a grumpy, lonely pensioner, Umberto Domenica Ferrari (Carlo Battisti), who is struggling to survive with his dog on his government pension in Rome. [Spoiler alert] His loneliness, poverty and feeling of abandonment combine to drive him to suicide.

This unsentimental, beautifully written, wonderfully moving, poetic depiction of life in post-World War Two austerity Italy, is realised with the most vivid of performances. It is one of the milestones of world cinema of its period, and, along with Bicycle Thieves, is a De Sica career highpoint.

This is a time of poverty in Italy’s history that no one now wants to remember, but is important to recall. Thankfully, La Dolce Vita was just around the corner for the Italians, as austerity gave way to the good life. Come to that, who remembers De Sica now?

Also in the cast are Maria-Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari, Ileana Simova and Elena Rea.

It is shot in black and white by Aldo Graziati, produced by Vittorio De Sica, Giuseppe Amato and Angelo Rizzoli, scored by Alessandro Cicognini, and designed by Virgilio Marchi.

It was restored by Mediaset and shown again in cinemas in Rome, Milan and New York in 1999.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6150

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