Notes for Umberto D.

Film: Umberto D.

Year Of Release: 1952

Director: Vittorio De Sica

Notes from viewing number 1 (20.10.2021)

Rating: 10/10

- This is my second De Sica. My first was Bicycle Thieves, a film that broke my heart into a million pieces in a way few movies can. I still consider it one of the great achievements of cinema history. My expectations were high for Umberto D, and not only did De Sica meet those expectations, but he broke my heart again.

- De Sica once again starts this journey of heartbreak by bringing us into Italy's political climate. In Bicycle Thieves it was the lack of work, and in Umberto D, it's Italy's treatment of the elderly.

- De Sica's filmmaking was groundbreaking at the time, and you can clearly see why. He was easily the greatest director in the Italian Neorealist movement, as no director understood the movement as well as him. His films are truthful to the core. No glamour, just pure honesty.

- The ending is melancholic and bittersweet to the core. It's so tragic, but also so optimistic. De Sica, you have broken me again with your beautiful, poetic and heartbreaking films. I am going to need a few days to recover from this.