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06/24/06
Umberto D. (1952)
96 %
Reviews Counted: 23 Fresh: 22 Rotten:1 Average Rating: 8.9/10
Runtime: 89 mins
Synopsis: The Italian classic UMBERTO D., from director Vittorio De Sica, offers a realistic character sketch of an elderly man, Umberto D. (Carlo Battisti), who is determined to retain his dignity in spite of a meager pension. As with many of De Sica's Neo-realist films, the central struggle is... [More]
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Carlo Battisi, Maria Pia Casilio, Lina Genneri, Ileana Simova, Alberto Albani Barbieri
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Reviews
Top Critic
De Sica somehow manages to avert sentimentality and banality, and his simple storytelling leaves a profound and timeless message.
11/27/06
De Sica takes a premise that drips with sentimentality and wipes all the sappiness away, leaving only raw action and subtle underlying emotion.
08/11/06
Like Falconetti as Joan of Arc, Battisti offers one of those rare performances that is so perfectly realized, it automatically negates the possibility of any future roles.
12/02/04
Courageously and magnificently champions the life of an apparently insignificant man in a difficult time.
02/13/04
The very concept of believability is challenged: cornball sentiment is approached with such unblinking sincerity that the viewer’s given no way to process it except at face value.
09/11/03
Umberto D. is a film of constant desolation, a stalwart example of Neorealist cinema, and a depressive film whose recommendation depends on the benefit of the emotions it successfully elicits.
07/29/03
this project is no academic or sociological study--it's very personal
07/22/03
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05/20/03
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10/02/02
It's hard to think of a more remarkable tribute to the resilience of the human spirit than the one Umberto D. puts on the screen.
09/05/02
Top Critic
One of the great humanist cinema works: a portrayal of age, poverty and simple lives in postwar Rome that is both luminous and heartbreaking.
07/20/02
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