loading...
Umberto D
1952
The story of an old retired office worker whose lonely, impoverished life becomes unbearable to the point where something has to give. Italian dialogue with English subtitles. Read more
| Starring | Carlo Battisti, Maria Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari, Alberto Albani Barbieri |
|---|---|
| Director | Vittorio De Sica |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
loading...
Umberto D
The story of an old retired office worker whose lonely, impoverished life becomes unbearable to the point where something has to give. Italian dialogue with English subtitles.
| Starring | Carlo Battisti, Maria Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari, Alberto Albani Barbieri |
|---|---|
| Director | Vittorio De Sica |
| Studio | NOUVEAUX PICTURES |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 14 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
| Language | DVD: Italian |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 27 Sep 2004 Production year: 1952 |
| Format | DVD |
-
Critics' reviews (2)
View all -
“The ideal film,” wrote Cesare Zavattini, the theoretical father of neorealism, “ would be 90 minutes in the life of a man to whom nothing happens.” Shot on location, with a non-professional cast and an attention to detail that allows the viewer to discover the emotional or dramatic content of a scene, Vittorio De Sica's poignant study of an ageing civil servant, ostracised by the society he'd so faithfully served, comes close to fulfilling that vision. Fighting despair with dignity, Carlo Battisti is outstanding, whether coddling his devoted dog, Flike, or relishing his chats with pregnant maid, Maria-Pia Casilio. A sublime piece of humanist, observational cinema.
-
Judging by his demeanour, the D stands for Deep Depression. But the old man at the centre of De Sica's famous film from... read more on Time Out
-
Most helpful member's review
View all -
16 out of 18 people found this review helpful
Not that good
Not worth the trouble, mildly depressing really.
-
Most recent members' review
View all -
9 out of 9 people found this review helpful
An old man and his faithful dog.
This a beautiful and poignant film about a lonely old man living in post-war Rome. Accompanied by his faithful dog, Umberto is facing destitution in a city where no-one seems to care.
This film was part of the 'neo-realist' movement. Some of the cast were not professional actors. It is a simple depiction of the sadness and struggles of ordinary life.
This movie is black-and-white, slow-moving and the dialogue is in Italian (with subtitles). For these reasons, few people will see this film and not all of them will like it. But some people will find it extremely moving.
I first watched 'Umberto D' on Telvision about 15 years ago. My father and I loved it but we never knew its title. I recently decided to track it down and succeeded after hours on the internet. I enjoyed watching it again and was surprised by how well I remembered it after such a long time. It's one of those films which you think about for a long time afterwards. -
News and features
View all
Wendy and Lucy
- 02 Mar 2009
Maybe the best American film not to get any Oscar credit this year, Kelly Reichardt’s follow-up to Old Joy is a simple, poignant movie that will resonate as tough economic times cut deeper. It’s not what you would call a starry performance, but Michelle Williams is superb as Wendy, a young woman driving up to Alaska in search of work. Her car breaks down several hundreds of miles short in a thoroughly unexceptional Oregon town. She’s down to her last few bucks and Lucy is... Read more
-
More like this
View allShowing 1 to 4 of 20
Related user collection
They Shoot Pictures, Don't They Greatest 1000 Films... (321)
79.2% from 13 members
by:
Tolis
from Kent
