Page 56 - Metropolis Megazine nº121

UMBERTO D
VITTORIO DE SICA (1952)

Vittorio De Sica said about «Umberto D.», 1952: "The
misfortunes of those who have been excluded from a
world they helped build and who live in resignation and
silence give rise to resounding manifestations. Among
them, suicide. When a young person decides to die, it
is serious. But what about an old man who, in his exis-
tential despair, prefers to embrace death? It's horrible!
ALIAN CINEMA - GOLDEN YEARS
A society that allows something like this is nothing
more than a lost society." This reflection aptly defines
the condition of the protagonist, Umberto D(omenico)
Ferrari, who cannot meet even his most basic needs on
his meagre pension. Moreover, he finds no solidarity
among those around him that would give him at least
some hope of maintaining the dignity he has struggled
to preserve. Every time I watch the final sequence of
this magnificent film, my eyes fill with tears.
A scathing portrait of post-war Italy, where the fascist
mentality did not die with the winds of liberation and
democracy. A major work of cinema and of the courage
to say what need(ed) to be said...! joão garção borges

THE GOLD OF NAPLES

VITTORIO DE SICA (1954)

Vittorio De Sica has built an irresistible portrait of
Naples in a series of six stories that look with tears and
smiles at the human microcosm of this mythical post-
-war city. It's a virtuoso homage to Naples by Vittorio
De Sica, based on the short stories written by Giuseppe
Marotta. The realisation is full of elegance, the set de-
sign is a feat, from the poorest to the wealthiest envi-
ronments. And the music by Alessandro Cicognini is a
IT great companion to these stories. The cast is full of great
performances and features the cream of Italian acting
TIVE the eternal sex-symbols Sophia Loren and Silvana Man-
from the 1950s and 1960s, with monsters like Totò and

gano. Both have different roles in this anthology. Loren

C is the woman (who brings a metropolis to a standstill)
who left the ring in her lover's room - it's absolutely hila-
OSPE gano is a prostitute who becomes the wife of a bourgeois
rious in the segment ‘Pizze a credito’ - and Silvana Man-
who discovers, after the wedding, that she can live ha-
ppily in love without the wealthy bourgeois or be mise-
RETR rable in her existence as a wealthy wife in ‘Teresa’. This
movie is a celebration of the Naples identity and their
incongruities in the dazzle that is the magic of cinema,
featuring real stars of the screen. jorge pinto

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