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Still believe in the goodness of people? Still hold out hope for the future? If so this is one picture you’ll want to catch up with sooner than later. ‘The Good Totò’ is literally found in a cabbage patch; the simple magic of kindness enables him to turn a shanty town into a little Utopia . . . for a few days. Vittorio De Sica and Cesare Zavattini fashion a story that insists that magic is as real as sunlight, music, and the words ‘Good Morning’ — and that man is imperfect and his institutions unjust. Francesco Golisano, Brunella Bovo and the heavenly Emma Gramatica are unforgettable. The warmth and understanding here bests that of Charlie Chaplin.

Miracle in Milan

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 1119

1951 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 96 min. / Miracolo a Milano / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date April 19, 2022 / 39.95

Starring: Emma Gramatica, Francesco Golisano, Paolo Stoppa, Guglielmo Barnabò, Brunella Bovo, Anna Carena,...

"You can get rid of them whenever you want." Janus Films has debuted a new official trailer for a 4K re-release of the classic 1951 Italian surreal comedy film Miracle in Milan, which first premiered at the 1951 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the top prize Palme d'Or at the end of the fest. It was first restored in 2015, and the new 4K restoration premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival all over again. An infant found in a cabbage patch (by 77-year-old silent screen diva Emma Gramatica) grows up to be Francesco Golisano's Totó, whose sunny outlook — plus the magic dove left by Gramatica — help the denizens of a ramshackle Milanese squatters' shantytown find the actual beauty in their lives. But when businessmen learn there's oil there — is it time to fly away? The follow-up to DeSica's international triumph The Bicycle Thief, Miracle in Milan received two BAFTA Awards nominations...

Miracle In Milan

Stars: Emma Gramatica, Francesco Golisano, Paolo Stoppa, Guglielmo Barnabò | Written by Cesare Zavattini | Directed by Vittorio De Sica

Films carry power, whether it’s to just merely entertain or to get an emotional reaction from the water they still gain a reaction. When a film fails the reaction they get can range from pure hatred to just pure boredom. Of course there is no reason to hate a film just because it’s bad, sure have a dislike for it but don’t waste emotion on hate, just don’t watch the film ever again. That said it’s always fun to bitch about one that truly sucks. Miracle in Milan is one that I would argue brings happiness, it’s a true feel good film.

Some films can be seen as a kind of social commentary, and this could be said about Miracle in Milan, even...