''Umberto D.'' () is a 1952
Italian neorealist film directed by
Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement.
Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: ''Sciuscià'' and ''Bicycle Thieves'' (honorary) ...
. Most of the actors were non-professional, including
Carlo Battisti
Carlo Battisti (10 October 1882 – 6 March 1977) was an Italian linguist and actor, famed for his starring role in Vittorio De Sica's ''Umberto D.''.
Biography
Battisti was born in Trento, Austria-Hungary in 1882 (nowadays Trento, Trentino-Al ...
who plays the title role of Umberto Domenico Ferrari, a poor elderly man in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
who is desperately trying to keep his rented room. His landlady (
Lina Gennari
Lina Gennari (22 March 1911 – 11 October 1997) was an Italian actress and operetta singer.
Born Carolina Gennari in Bologna, she made her debut in the early 1920s in the Schwarz stage company, and she had her first role as prima donna in the o ...
) is evicting him and his only true friends, the housemaid (
Maria-Pia Casilio
Maria-Pia Casilio (5 May 1935 – 10 April 2012) was an Italian film actress, best known for major roles in '' Umberto D.'' and '' Un americano a Roma''.
Born in San Pio delle Camere, L'Aquila, Casilio was quite active between 1952 and 19 ...
) and his dog Flike (called 'Flag' in some subtitled versions of the film) are of no help.
According to
Robert Osborne
Robert Jolin Osborne (; May 3, 1932 – March 6, 2017) was an American film historian, television presenter, author, actor and the primary host for more than 20 years of the cable channel Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Prior to hosting at TCM, Os ...
of
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...
, this was De Sica's favorite of all his films. The movie was included in ''
TIME
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine's "All-TIME 100 Movies" in 2005. The film's sets were designed by
Virgilio Marchi
Virgilio Marchi (21 January 1895 – 30 April 1960) was an Italian architect and art director. He designed the sets for more than fifty films during his career. Marchi was stylistically identified with the Futurist movement.Sabatino, Michelangelo ...
.
Plot
Police disperse an organized
street demonstration
A political demonstration is an action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause or people partaking in a protest against a cause of concern; it often consists of walking in a mass march formati ...
of elderly men demanding a raise in their meager pensions. One of the marchers is Umberto D. Ferrari, a retired government worker.
He returns to his room and finds that his
landlady has rented it out for an hour to an amorous couple. She threatens to evict Ferrari at the end of the month if he cannot pay the overdue rent, fifteen thousand lire. He sells a watch and some books, but only raises a third of the amount. The landlady refuses to accept partial payment.
Meanwhile, the sympathetic maid confides in Umberto that she has her own problems. She is three months pregnant, but is unsure which of her two lovers (both soldiers) is the father, the tall one from
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
or the short one from
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
.
Feeling ill, Umberto gets himself admitted to a hospital. It turns out to be
tonsillitis
Tonsillitis is inflammation of the tonsils in the upper part of the throat. It can be acute or chronic. Acute tonsillitis typically has a rapid onset. Symptoms may include sore throat, fever, enlargement of the tonsils, trouble swallowing, and en ...
and he is discharged after a few days. When he returns to the apartment, he finds workmen renovating the entire place. The landlady is getting married. Umberto's room has a gaping hole in the wall. The maid tells him it is to become part of an enlarged living room. The maid was taking care of his dog named Flike, but a door was left open and Flike ran away.
Umberto rushes to the city pound and is relieved to find his dog; however, when he makes a veiled plea for a loan to one of his friends who has a job, the friend refuses to listen. Unable to bring himself to beg from strangers on the street Umberto contemplates suicide, but knows he must first see that Flike is taken care of. He packs his belongings and leaves the apartment. His parting advice to the maid is to get rid of the boyfriend from Florence.
Umberto attempts to find a place for Flike, first with a couple who board dogs, then a little girl he knows, but the latter's nanny makes her give the dog back. Flike goes to play with some children and Umberto slips away, hoping that one of them will adopt him. Despite Umberto's attempt to abandon Flike, the dog finds him hiding under a footbridge. Finally in desperation, Umberto takes the dog in his arms and walks on to a railway track as a speeding train approaches. Flike becomes frightened, wriggles free and flees. Umberto runs after him. At first Flike warily hides, but eventually Umberto coaxes Flike out to play with a pine cone. Still homeless and nearly penniless, Umberto scampers down the park lane with his dog.
Cast
*
Carlo Battisti
Carlo Battisti (10 October 1882 – 6 March 1977) was an Italian linguist and actor, famed for his starring role in Vittorio De Sica's ''Umberto D.''.
Biography
Battisti was born in Trento, Austria-Hungary in 1882 (nowadays Trento, Trentino-Al ...
as Umberto Domenico Ferrari
*
Maria-Pia Casilio
Maria-Pia Casilio (5 May 1935 – 10 April 2012) was an Italian film actress, best known for major roles in '' Umberto D.'' and '' Un americano a Roma''.
Born in San Pio delle Camere, L'Aquila, Casilio was quite active between 1952 and 19 ...
as Maria, the maid
*
Lina Gennari
Lina Gennari (22 March 1911 – 11 October 1997) was an Italian actress and operetta singer.
Born Carolina Gennari in Bologna, she made her debut in the early 1920s in the Schwarz stage company, and she had her first role as prima donna in the o ...
as Antonio Belloni, the landlady
*Ileana Simova as the woman in Umberto's room
*Elena Rea as the nun at the hospital
*
Memmo Carotenuto as a patient at the hospital
*Alberto Albari Barbieri as Antonia's friend
*Napoleone as Flike
ncredited
Reception
De Sica said that the film was quite unpopular in Italy because it was in a period after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
when the country was just getting back on its feet. Subsequently, they saw ''Umberto D.'' as too critical of the pride they were trying to engender in themselves.
It evoked such opposition in conservatives that
Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti ( , ; 14 January 1919 – 6 May 2013) was an Italian politician and statesman who served as the 41st prime minister of Italy in seven governments (1972–1973, 1976–1979, and 1989–1992) and leader of the Christian Democra ...
, the minister responsible for cinema at the time, published an open letter against De Sica, saying that if the movie was perceived as a realistic depiction of mid-twentieth century Italy, he "
ould Ould is an English surname and an Arabic name ( ar, ولد). In some Arabic dialects, particularly Hassaniya Arabic, ولد (the patronymic, meaning "son of") is transliterated as Ould. Most Mauritanians have patronymic surnames.
Notable p ...
have rendered a very bad service to
hecountry". However, it was quite popular overseas and the film remained the one he was most proud of (even dedicating the film to his father).
In an interview where he discussed ''
Diary of a Country Priest
''Diary of a Country Priest'' (french: Journal d'un curé de campagne) is a 1951 French drama film written and directed by Robert Bresson, and starring Claude Laydu in his debut film performance. A faithful adaptation of Georges Bernanos' nove ...
'', ''
Psycho'' and ''
Citizen Kane
''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American drama film produced by, directed by, and starring Orson Welles. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Herman J. Mankiewicz. The picture was Welles' first feature film. ''Citizen Kane'' is frequently cited ...
'',
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known ...
is quoted as saying, "''Umberto D.'' is ... a movie I have seen a hundred times, that I may love most of all."
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...
included it on a list of "39 Essential Foreign Films for a Young Filmmaker."
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
included the film in his selection of Great Movies, writing that "Vittorio De Sica's ''Umberto D'' (1952) is the story of the old man's struggle to keep from falling from poverty into shame. It may be the best of the Italian neorealist films--the one that is most simply itself, and does not reach for its effects or strain to make its message clear."
Awards and nominations
* Vittorio De Sica was nominated for the Grand Prix –
1952 Cannes Film Festival
The 5th Cannes Film Festival was held from 23 April to 10 May 1952. As in the previous three festivals, the entire jury of this festival was made up of French persons, with Maurice Genevoix as the Jury President. The Grand Prix of the Festival w ...
* 1955
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Film
* Cesare Zavattini was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Story at the
29th Academy Awards
For the 29th Academy Awards, the Best International Feature Film was introduced as a competitive category, instead of only a Special Achievement Award. The first winner in this new category was Federico Fellini's ''La Strada'' with Anthony Qu ...
in 1957
Remake
A French remake entitled ''
A Man and His Dog
''A Man and His Dog'' (''Un Homme et Son Chien'') is a 2008 French film directed by French director Francis Huster, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo, based on the 1952 film ''Umberto D.'' directed by Vittorio De Sica, and written by Cesare Zavattini.
...
'' premiered in 2008. The film was directed by
Francis Huster
Francis Huster (born 8 December 1947) is a French stage, film and television actor, director and scriptwriter.
Biography
Francis Huster was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine. His father is Charles Huster, commercial director at Lancia, and his Poli ...
, co-written by Huster and
Murielle Magellan
Murielle Magellan (born 1967) is a French writer and theater director.
She was born Murielle Dbjay in Limoges and grew up in Montauban. She took the name Murielle Magellan when she moved to Paris at the age of 17. Magellan studied at the Studio de ...
, and stars
Jean-Paul Belmondo
Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo (; 9 April 19336 September 2021) was a French actor and producer. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward. His best known credits ...
in his first role in seven years, alongside
Hafsia Herzi
Hafsia Herzi (born 25 January 1987) is a French actress and film director. She is best known for her debut role in the award-winning Franco-Tunisian feature '' The Secret of the Grain'' for which she won the award for most promising actress at the ...
,
Julika Jenkins
Julika Jenkins (born 20 October 1971) is a German actress. She lives in Berlin with her partner, actor Arnd Klawitter. She has appeared in stage, television, and film productions in Switzerland and Germany. She is best known for her role as Clau ...
and Francis Huster among others.
References
External links
*
*
''Umberto D.''a 1990 essay by Peter Becker at the
Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...
.
''Seeing Clearly Through Tears: On the Smart Sentiment of Umberto D.''an essay by
Stuart Klawans
Stuart Klawans has been the film critic for ''The Nation'' since 1988. He also writes a column on the visual arts for ''The New York Daily News''.
Education
He obtained his degree from Yale University.
Awards and honors
He won the 2007 National M ...
at the
Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...
.
{{Authority control
1952 films
1952 drama films
Italian black-and-white films
Films about dogs
Films about old age
Films directed by Vittorio De Sica
Italian drama films
1950s Italian-language films
Italian neorealist films
Films set in Rome
Films with screenplays by Cesare Zavattini
Films produced by Angelo Rizzoli
Films scored by Alessandro Cicognini
Films shot in Rome
1950s Italian films