Les enfants nous regardent...

Once in a great while, a child actor and a director are perfectly matched so that the child delivers an indelible performance that etches itself firmly into film history, as Jean-Pierre Leaud did for Truffault in The 400 Blows, or Haley Joel Osment accomplished for Shamalyan in The Sixth Sense; The child Luciano De Ambrosis performs with an incredible sensitivity to the insensitive adults around him, a mother and father who search for their own bliss while forgetting their child's well-being. Because it was released during WWII in Italy, DeSica's early effort did not receive the kudos it deserved, but deserves to rank in the pantheon with Bicycle Thief and Umberto D; it's a simple story of learning bitter lessons, with a memorable, well-defined sense of time and atmosphere.