What I love about Vittorio De Sica
Since I wrote that post yesterday about the Italian Neo-Realism festival I thought I would make a post about one of the best known directors of the movement and my personal favorite.
Just to be clear Italian Neo-Realism is a film movement that sprang up in Italy towards the end of WWII and lasted at least till the early 50's.
A pretty helpful definition from Wikipedia
is a style of film characterized by stories set amongst the poor and working class, filmed on location, frequently using nonprofessional actors. Italian neorealist films mostly contend with the difficult economical and moral conditions of post-World War II Italy, reflecting the changes in the Italian psyche and the conditions of everyday life: poverty and desperation.
However, as far as De Sica goes what I love about his films is the way he writes the relationship between his characters (usually the 2 principals of the cast). Where as lot of movies focus on romance, De Sica's films focus on the non-romantic relationships I love and his movies have some of the best & more realistic types of these relationships that I've seen.
Shoeshine (1946)
Tell's the story of two shoeshine boys & good friends who get caught up in a black market scheme and are sent to a juvenile detention center. In the prison the two boys lose their innocence and their friendship is tested (while it's a very good film I find this film the hardest to watch).
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Tell's the story of a man whose bike is stolen (the bike he needs to make his livelihood). The movie follows the man and his son as they search the streets of Rome in hopes to find the bike. This is considered by many to be the prime example of Italian Neo-realism. The whole movie is actually on youtube. For those who have Netflix a better copy is also available on their instant service.
Umberto D (1958)
Tell's the story of a poor, lonely old man who is constantly being threatened to be evicted out of apartment. His only companions are a maid and his little dog named Flike. To anyone who loves animals I definitely recommend this film. The relationship between the dog and the old man is one of the sweetest things ever.
Two Women (1960)
Okay while this one is still directed by Vittorio De Sica, it's not exactly Italian Neo-Realism. Instead of using non-professional actors it stars Sofia Loren and instead of a depiction of Italy as it is now it recreates Italy during the war. However like De Sica's other movies I still feel it has a realistic touch to it and it still captures a wonderful relationship. This time it tells the story of a mother trying to protect her teenage daughter from the horrors of war.
Just to be clear Italian Neo-Realism is a film movement that sprang up in Italy towards the end of WWII and lasted at least till the early 50's.
A pretty helpful definition from Wikipedia
is a style of film characterized by stories set amongst the poor and working class, filmed on location, frequently using nonprofessional actors. Italian neorealist films mostly contend with the difficult economical and moral conditions of post-World War II Italy, reflecting the changes in the Italian psyche and the conditions of everyday life: poverty and desperation.
However, as far as De Sica goes what I love about his films is the way he writes the relationship between his characters (usually the 2 principals of the cast). Where as lot of movies focus on romance, De Sica's films focus on the non-romantic relationships I love and his movies have some of the best & more realistic types of these relationships that I've seen.
Shoeshine (1946)
Tell's the story of two shoeshine boys & good friends who get caught up in a black market scheme and are sent to a juvenile detention center. In the prison the two boys lose their innocence and their friendship is tested (while it's a very good film I find this film the hardest to watch).
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Tell's the story of a man whose bike is stolen (the bike he needs to make his livelihood). The movie follows the man and his son as they search the streets of Rome in hopes to find the bike. This is considered by many to be the prime example of Italian Neo-realism. The whole movie is actually on youtube. For those who have Netflix a better copy is also available on their instant service.
Umberto D (1958)
Tell's the story of a poor, lonely old man who is constantly being threatened to be evicted out of apartment. His only companions are a maid and his little dog named Flike. To anyone who loves animals I definitely recommend this film. The relationship between the dog and the old man is one of the sweetest things ever.
Two Women (1960)
Okay while this one is still directed by Vittorio De Sica, it's not exactly Italian Neo-Realism. Instead of using non-professional actors it stars Sofia Loren and instead of a depiction of Italy as it is now it recreates Italy during the war. However like De Sica's other movies I still feel it has a realistic touch to it and it still captures a wonderful relationship. This time it tells the story of a mother trying to protect her teenage daughter from the horrors of war.