Dir. Vittorio de Sica (1955)
Not rated This movie was.... a real bummer. I feel like I somehow understood it wrong, though, because I know that Italian Neorealists films aren't supposed to be sad. Sorry! It was really sad! It was an odd movie, though, because usually sad movies really play up the sad parts to make the audience feel it too. But this one was just showing Umberto and his dog as they were, living day to day and really struggling. The saddest parts usually contained the dog, Flag, but that's not even because they played up the parts with the dog to make the audience feel more sympathetic. That's just because I like dogs and when bad things happen to them it is very upsetting. It didn't even feel like a movie. I guess that's Neorealism done right. I can't say I enjoyed watching it, because I was more just watching it for what it was, if that makes sense. The main character, Umberto, is not a protagonist. He's just the character that the movie focuses on. He's not a good person in the sense that he does good deeds, but I did admire him for his relentlessness (for the most part, not counting that almost suicide theme) to keep trying to make ends meet. A lot of people who basically live on the streets would just give up and accept it. Umberto had scarcely any lines, too, so it was hard to analyze his personality. I think that just adds to the essence of the film, to show things how they truly are, because in real life a person like Umberto wouldn't really have any friends and he's mostly on his own, so he wouldn't be speaking much anyways. It felt like a silent film almost. It was almost like a Charlie Chaplin film, but slowed down a lot and makes you just feel like a heavy depressed lump afterwords. There's no real lovable character (except Flag), which is an odd thing to watch in a movie. My favorite parts of the movie were probably the saddest, partly because it actually seemed like the plot was coming to some kind of climax, but mostly because that's when the most emotion was seen. Umberto came really close to committing suicide, which you could totally see coming, even though you really didn't want him to do it. It's strange, because making that scene so raw with nothing to play it up kinda makes you feel/understand it more. You're just watching a man who has run out of options and doesn't see a need to live anymore, which is one of the saddest human reactions that you can watch in a film. This one just felt really different because of the way it was filmed. The only strong bond that the man has is with his dog, and that ends up kind of saving his life. I would say it is endearing, but that's still pretty depressing because at the end he is no better or worse. That's my thing with Italian Neorealism: I do appreciate it because it knocks your socks off with the way it portrays emotions. I like it even more because none of the actors are professionals, they're just people. It makes everything feel so real. But, does it all have to be sad? Are they all bummers? In this way, Umberto D was really no different than Bicycle Thieves. I can't say I liked it, but I appreciated it for what it was.
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AuthorCasey Land Archives
January 2018
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