Thanks to my local Revival Theater, I just caught a double feature of Bicycle Thieves & Umberto D. Although I have seen both films before, The big screen viewing is always like a first viewing.
Umberto D. like Bicycle Thieves is a very simple story. It's a man (Umberto) Slowly falling into poverty. He is old, retired, sick, debt ridden, and is living off of an almost nonexistent pension. His land lady wants him out, and she rents his room out to prostitutes during the day. His only friends are his Dog (Flike) and the young, pregnant maid from his apartment (Maria). He begins to sell the few possesions he has to bring some more money, and is faced with the reality of begging on the streets of Rome. Sounds sad? It is. Very sad, but like Bicycle Thieves, Umberto D. is full of Heart and actually has moments of wonderful
Chaplinesque comedy.
As in many
Neorealism films the actors were picked off the streets because of their looks. Carlo Battisti who plays Umberto Domenico Ferrari, give a heartbreaking performance without a single false note. His dog, Flike is actually able to give a fantastic performance. I was amazed to see how moved I was because what a dog was doing. Umberto D. has been called the final film from the
Italian Neorealism period, and It is a fitting end to one of the greatest periods that film history will ever see.