Umberto D
Directed by Vittorio De Sica
Written by Cesare Zavattini
1952/Italy
Rizzoli Film/Produzione Films Vittorio de Sica/Amato Films
First viewing/My DVD collection
#259 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
[box] A graceful and honorable old age is the childhood of immortality. — Pindar [/box]
I think only De Sica could pull off such a non-saccharine look at a poor old man and his dog.
Umberto Domenico Ferrari (Carlo Battisti) seems to have been comfortably middle-class when he worked 30 years for an Italian government ministry. Now he is retired and his post-war pension is not enough to keep body and soul together. The movie begins with his participation in a demonstration protesting inadequate pensions.
Umberto’s immediate problem is that his awful landlady is threatening to evict him unless he pays up all his back rent. Her main interest is in reclaiming his room so that she can remodel following her upcoming marriage. Umberto sells off a watch and some prized books but only comes up with about one-third of the amount due.
Umberto has only two friends in the world. One is his beloved and loyal little dog Flick. The other, who is much a co-conspirator as a friend, is Maria (Maria Pia Casilia), the teenage maid that works for the landlady. She defies her boss to bring Umberto leftover food and the thermometer and in return uses his window to signal to one of her two boyfriends. She is pregnant by one of these men and her tenure in the household is limited.
As Umberto’s situation grows increasingly precarious, he tries various strategies. These include getting himself admitted to a hospital and attempting to beg or borrow money. His eviction grows ever closer. Eventually, it seems that his greatest problem will be how to ensure Flick’s welfare.
I have been dreading this film for a long time. The plot summary made it sound like it would either be unbearably maudlin or just too sad to take. Fortunately, De Sica handles the sad story with his characteristic slightly humorous touch. The screenplay is also genius. Both Umberto and Maria are made to be very human and thus flawed. So while our sympathy goes out to them we can see how part of their situation is of their own making. The movie is beautifully shot and really should be seen.
Umberto D. was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story.
Re-release trailer
I know quite a few people who would have trouble watching this movie – if they ever bothered with old Italian movies – because of some of the scenes with the dog.
But I love it! SPOLIER ALERT! Geez Louise! That scene where he’s standing on the trolley tracks, holding the dog and closing his eyes as he waits for the train to come back!?!? It’s one of the most amazing moments in cinema. And then after that, when he’s trying so desperately to find the dog and he’s so happy when he finds him and they play at the park!
Yeah, this is a great one. I saw it last year and I was mad at myself that I never saw it before.
That dog saved his life! I liked the way the dog doesn’t trust him any more after that happened and then slowly warms up to him again. I couldn’t help wondering what would happen eventually though. Also love that scene where he’s going to leave the dog in the boarding place and decides not to. It’s a great movie and so unlike what I expected somehow. De Sica is a master of killer endings. Have you seen The Children Are Watching Us? Highly recommended.
FWIW for any reader who follows up on Bea’s suggestion to look up The Children Are Watching Us do NOT read the wikipedia article, read it while tired and unthinking and didn’t stop in time. Gives away the WHOLE story from a to Z. Gosh I hate writers who feel compelled to add spoilers without notice.
Oh, that’s really too bad. I bet you’d like the movie anyway though.
For better or worse have a real aversion to watching a movie first time when I know the whole story. No worries at all coming back to a movie that I really like but that first watch must include that first time wonder for better or worse.
One advantage though with my appalling memory, in a while there’s a good chance I’ll have forgotten that I know the end heh heh. Am embarrassed to relate that there have been a number of times when watching a movie that a scene will make me realise “hey I’ve seen this……..but I’ll keep watching because I have no recollection of how this ends at all”. Or wife says “we’ve seen this”, I say “no way, I’d remember THAT bit for sure”…then comes the scene that did stick and ooopppss, “sorry, you were right”.
The older I get the more I have the same experience. In face I use it to separate the good movies from the great ones. True classics are unforgettable.
»Parva domus sed apta mihi«, indeed!
Your Latin is much better than mine!
Greetings from beautiful Piemonte, Bea. Very fitting that I should read your review of Umberto D here on the porch of the vineyard I am staying at.
You know very well that I was not a fan of this movie and that that was a combination of not liking Umberto at all and finding the movie unnecessarily pressing for heartbreak. There are ten different ways this story could have gone with no drama at all, the first of it being leaving town right at the beginning. Having said that I actually liked the story with the girl. Her situation is a lot worse and a lot more interesting. She also has a lot better attitude than Umberto and is the one I root for in the movie rather than a grumpy old man.
Oh how I envy you! I hope you are enjoying the surroundings and the occasional lemon gelato. We’ll have to agree to disagree. I don’t think it would have been an easy thing for Umberto to just pack up his duds and take a train out of Rome. And where would he go. After that, he would have had to find an affordable place to say. Maybe if he had some relatives to put him up it would have worked but he was alone.