Alright so this is the first entry in the CHUD foreign film discussion group. It's going to be a test run, to see if we can actually manage to discuss a "foreign" film for most of us. Time limit is a month so ironically this discussion is open until 4/20 of this year. Please by all means participate if you have an opinion. Film shouldn't be too hard to find for those interested.
I actually just finished this moments ago, and still trying to compose myself here. It's neo-realism at its finest, and it amazes me how De Sica managed to get such performances out of non-actors in not only this film but in Bicycle Thieves as well.
One thing I'd like to touch on is the way the city looked back in those days, compared to now if you were to go into Rome today. There's great footage of (I think) The Pantheon, with very few people walking by (all Italians), with no tourists, no glitz and glamour, etc. To do that today you would need a boat load of money. The streets themselves look so staunchly different then even from Italian films made years later by Fellini and Visconti, and just help to add to the effect of hopelessness that embodies Carlo Battisti's Umberto Domenico Ferrari.
On that note, this was Carlo Battisti's only acting role, though he looks like a seasoned veteran out there. My guess is, though Battisti was according to IMDB a professor by profession, that he had grown accustomed to see the people in Italy/Rome that were just like Umberto D. He had obviously lived through World War II Italy, and naturally had seen the high level of unemployment, poverty, and poor plans for those who had worked hard all their lives.
The relationship between him and Flike, his dog, is something special. He cares more about his dog than anything else in the world, and aside from petty, curious kindness on the part of Maria, Flike is really the only thing that cares about him, at all. Umberto knows people in better standing than him, but because (and I think this was implied) he had worked for or with them for so long, he's too proud to ask for money. He implies it in one case, but doesn't actually ask for it outright. He also will not beg for it. He almost does, but he ends up putting his hat in his dog's mouth so that he would not have to "lower" himself, so to speak.
The train sequence is something else too. It's real, the dog was really immensely scared and I believe Battisti actually stood there and watch it go close by him. The ending is shattering, and I'll admit the waterworks were going there for a little while, but that's to be expected. I haven't met anyone who hasn't had strong, emotional feelings for this film, and I was no exception.
Really looking forward to hearing everyone's opinion.
I actually just finished this moments ago, and still trying to compose myself here. It's neo-realism at its finest, and it amazes me how De Sica managed to get such performances out of non-actors in not only this film but in Bicycle Thieves as well.
One thing I'd like to touch on is the way the city looked back in those days, compared to now if you were to go into Rome today. There's great footage of (I think) The Pantheon, with very few people walking by (all Italians), with no tourists, no glitz and glamour, etc. To do that today you would need a boat load of money. The streets themselves look so staunchly different then even from Italian films made years later by Fellini and Visconti, and just help to add to the effect of hopelessness that embodies Carlo Battisti's Umberto Domenico Ferrari.
On that note, this was Carlo Battisti's only acting role, though he looks like a seasoned veteran out there. My guess is, though Battisti was according to IMDB a professor by profession, that he had grown accustomed to see the people in Italy/Rome that were just like Umberto D. He had obviously lived through World War II Italy, and naturally had seen the high level of unemployment, poverty, and poor plans for those who had worked hard all their lives.
The relationship between him and Flike, his dog, is something special. He cares more about his dog than anything else in the world, and aside from petty, curious kindness on the part of Maria, Flike is really the only thing that cares about him, at all. Umberto knows people in better standing than him, but because (and I think this was implied) he had worked for or with them for so long, he's too proud to ask for money. He implies it in one case, but doesn't actually ask for it outright. He also will not beg for it. He almost does, but he ends up putting his hat in his dog's mouth so that he would not have to "lower" himself, so to speak.
The train sequence is something else too. It's real, the dog was really immensely scared and I believe Battisti actually stood there and watch it go close by him. The ending is shattering, and I'll admit the waterworks were going there for a little while, but that's to be expected. I haven't met anyone who hasn't had strong, emotional feelings for this film, and I was no exception.
Really looking forward to hearing everyone's opinion.
