Roma città libera

Not a major work but still a delight. Not as sombre as other Italian films of the period this simple tale is well told as characters seemingly meet for the first time as we too meet them. And there is a fluidity here as they mix and mingle, taking it in turn with each other, making friends and enemies with ease. There is of course an undertow, a realisation that with the war just over, happiness is tempered by poverty and apprehension as to the future. The rain soaked streets of an almost deserted Roman night add both a poignancy and romanticism to the action as a thief becomes a good guy, a good guy a thief, the cops incompetent, the ministers barely keeping their act together and a pearl necklace or two changing hands at a good pace. Oh and throughout wanders Vittorio De Sica, who having lost his memory, spends the film, to great effect, asking all if they know who he is. Nobody even cares.