Umberto D.

UMBERTO D. (PG)

D: Vittorio de Sica

Dear Film (Giuseppe Amato, Angelo Rizzoli & Vittorio de Sica)

Italy 🇮🇹 1952

89 mins

Drama

W: Cesare Zavattini

DP: G.R. Aldo

Ed: Eraldo Da Roma

Mus: Alessandro Cicognini

Carlo Battisti (Umberto Domenico Ferrari), Maria Pio Casilio (Maria), Lina Gennario (Antonio Belloni)

Umberto D. is a simple story, simply told. 

This sombre Italian drama focuses on an elderly, retired civil servant facing struggles to pay his rent and look after his dog on the state pension, and ultimately facing eviction from his home by his heartless landlady.

A friendship blossoms between Umberto and Maria, a pregnant maid who had an affair with two soldiers and isn't sure which one is the father of her unborn child.

Too proud to beg, Umberto and his dog, Flike, try to find a better life in a world that doesn't seem to care.

Like 1948's Bicycle Thieves by the same filmmakers, it makes a very interesting film from a bleak premise that could easily have been written on the back of a postage stamp, uplifted by two excellent performances from both Carlo Battisti & Maria Pio Casilio, neither of whom were professional actors.

Vittorio de Sica dedicated the work to his father, so it's obvious that the story had some personal meaning for the director. 

8/10