160 - Umberto D., 1952, Italy. Dir. Vittorio de Sica.

Friday, June 9, 2017

160 - Umberto D., 1952, Italy.  Dir. Vittorio de Sica.

This is a film about friendship.

Friendship between the elderly Umberto D. Ferrari and the young maid Maria.

Friendship between Umberto D. and his dog Flike.

Umberto D. dresses nicely.  He wears a tailored suit and hat, and he walks the streets with physical and internal grace.

He is a retired civil servant.  He was a government worker for thirty-five years.  He now lives on a pension.

Maria possesses a positive personality.  She has large, open eyes and an open heart.  She helps Umberto D. and confides in him.

She tells him she is pregnant.  The father is a soldier.  A tall soldier from Naples.  Or a short soldier from Florence.  She does not know which one.  Umberto D. is sympathetic to her.  Understanding.

They live in an apartment building owned by Antonia Belloni.  Miss Belloni lives there too.  She hosts salons in her apartment, where her fiance joins them and they sing.

Flike is faithful to Umberto D.  Umberto D. is faithful to Flike.

The two walk the streets together.  They struggle together.

The film was filmed by Italian neo-realist director Vittorio de Sica.  He is most known for his film Bicycle Thieves.

This film has a similar theme.  A focus on the poor.  With a particular political point of view.

de Sica is not well enough known in America.  He acted and directed in many movies for around fifty years.  And he had acted for more than twenty years before directing Bicycle Thieves.

We have seen him as an actor.  Playing the Baron Fabrizio Donati in Max Ophuls' The Earrings of Madame de . . . 

The story of Umberto D. is told simply and economically.

You may be moved by the financial message.

You will be moved by the friendship.