Umberto D.

Umberto D.
IMDB #188 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045274/]

The Gist:
Umberto is an aged Italian fellow living off his measly pension during the economically challenged post-war Italy. However, he is in debt to his landlady, who is trying to evict him for her own selfish reasons. He tries to scrape up the cash to pay his debt, while catching a fever, while trying to feed his dog, while loosing his dog and having to go to the pound to find him before he is euthanized, while wrestling with his pride and his refusal to pan handle, and that's before the really depressing stuff hits. And yet this is a beautiful film, a warm film, and his connection with his dog Flike serves as the emotional heart. There are many beautiful moments in the film, and like Bicycle Thieves (more commonly known as The Bicycle Thief, which was De Sica's earlier effort with the same screenwriter) this film manages to take a character through one day of his life and make the audience feel wholly connected to him before the end. In The Bicycle Thief I found myself leaning forward, empathizing with the character's moral dilemma. In Umberto D, I felt a similar feeling toward the end. However, working up to that moment, Umberto struck a nerve where the Bicycle Thief did not. In this film, Umberto is a man near the end of his life, seeking dignity and peace. Moments like when he tries to sleep in his shitty little room that his landlady is trying to kick him out of, and he's running a fever, and he can't sleep because the landlady's guests are singing opera until the wee hours of the morning (apparently they're all opera people)...the moment feels too real, too vulnerable. It reminded me of moments that have happened in my life. Only I was young, so is the main character in Bicycle Thief for that matter. If there were more of these moments, the film would probably be too much for me. As it is, it strikes a good balance, giving the protagonist a healthy sense of vitality for much of the film. Without that, the film would have lost me.

On Another Note:
Did I mention I thought the film was genius. I don't think I used the word genius once. ...Well it is. Especially the end.