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Perhaps remembered foremost for directing what is considered by many to be one of the best films of all time, Bicycle Thieves (1948), one of Italy’s forefathers of neorealism, Vittorio De Sica is arguably not as glorified for the rest of his excellent filmography, as may be the work of some of his peers, like Rossellini or Visconti. Criterion revitalizes one of his other well known neorealist classics, the tender and moving Umberto D. to Blu-ray this month, and it’s easy to see how the film has withstood the tests of time as a beautiful blend of social commentary of post WWII life in Italy, as well as a moving portrait of an affectionate relationship between a man and his dog in a cold, apathetic world.

During a protest demonstration enacted by a group of angry pensioners demanding more money than the meager amount they’re allotted, police officers...

Umberto D. (1952) Direction: Vittorio De Sica Cast: Carlo Battisti, Maria-Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari Screenplay: Cesare Zavattini Oscar Movies Flike, Carlo Battisti, Umberto D. By Dan Schneider of Cosmoetica Lost between the glare of The Bicycle Thief (1948) and his later films with Sophia Loren, Vittorio De Sica's 1952 drama Umberto D. stands as an almost forgotten masterpiece of Italian neorealism and one of the last films that could claim to be of that movement alone. Upon its release, Umberto D. was pilloried by a few cineastes who, unable to understand the chasm between true sentiment and false sentimentality, found it too maudlin, and by myopic critics — mostly left-wing dilettantes — who thought that the formerly middle-class civil servant's tale was not "socially conscious" enough for the filmmaker to waste his talents on. Umberto D. flopped, but it has steadily risen in De Sica's pantheon; it is now thought of as [...]...