While at home today nursing a head cold, I happened upon “Umberto D.”,
the 1952 neo-realist movie directed by Vittorio De Sica that I knew only
by reputation, on the IFC cable channel. I don’t know if IFC scheduled
the movie because we are living in a neo-neo-realist period in some
respects, but the similarities with 2009 realities were striking.
Umberto D. is Umberto Domenico Ferrari, an elderly pensioner who had
worked at the Ministry of Public Works. We meet him and his pet dog
Flike at a protest of pensioners who cannot live on their government
allotment. After it is broken up by the cops, we follow him back to his
furnished room where he is confronted by his landlady who gives him an
ultimatum. Unless he pays the back rent, she will evict him. She is
looking for any excuse to get rid of him, since she plans to convert two
rooms, including his, into a formal dining room.
full: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2009/04/28/umberto-d/
_______________________________________________
pen-l mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
