Umberto D. (The Criterion Collection)

After being tired of soulless films coming out the last decade or so making billions, I've decided to go back to the classics from around the world to find quality cinema. And boy, I hit the goldmine with this one!Well-paced, remarkable performances, and brimming with heart and soul, this is a bonafide classic. The final 15-20 minutes is one of the best finales in any movie ever....profound and breathtaking. Besides, it's not only fantastic for people getting into the movie industry, but interesting enough for the masses to appreciate. After all, a gripping story about an older gentleman trying to survive in the harsh world as a pensioner is and will always be relevant.

Criterion as always does a wonderful job at restoration of classic movies

One of the classics of Italian neorealism is among the best and is a personal favourite. The bittersweet story of a lonely old man on the verge of eviction with his constant companion, an adorable boisterous terrier, and the bond they form with a teenage servant girl. Dismissed by a Roman society under construction, their futures are uncertain. Director Vittorio De Sica vividly portrays post-war Rome with an emphasis on the human relationships made when alone and navigating daunting city life. Often described as sad, I would say depressing but entertaining is a bit more accurate, as this is not sappy or manipulative like a Hollywood movie might be, but more focused on the sad living situations and poor quality of life with a few indispensable doses of subtle humor. Maybe for sentimental reasons, I have long felt that Flike the dog (memorably descibed as "small- but mean!" ) is one of cinema's great canines. Highly recommended, and strongly suggested as a companion to De Sica's more famous, but similar film, Bicycle Thieves, as well as other contemporary classics such as Rome: Open City, or I Vitelloni. Criterion's Blu Ray looks excellent and contains a couple of extras, an interview and a documentary on the director.

I had seen this a while back and was never able to get it out of my mind. As we watch this impoverished senior go through his trials with little money and only the companionship of his dog Flike, it is just heartbreaking and sometimes difficult to watch. A black-and-white portrait of post-war Italy is incredibly well done by Director Vittorio De Sica, apparently with few professional actors. I was sad to see that this film was so reviled in Italy (the politicians apparently thought it would damage Italy's image). Fortunately, the US was the one country which found an audience for this film and it received a well-deserved Oscar Nomination for writing. It's difficult to say that I "loved" this film; but it is definitely one of the best of the 50s...it never fails to bring tears to my eye. A great and powerful film!

The reviews were very accurate on this film. The main character is a sweet and gentle man not making ends meet financially and living in a brothel managed by a nasty, somewhat inhumane wealthy woman who's bent on evicting him. He's late on rent and she refuses to take any form of partial payment but wants full payment which he doesn't have. He is bent on staying. She is bent on renovating. This sweet man goes through trial after trial even to the point where his trusted companion (his dog) turned on him. Plenty of sadness, quietly portrayed. Interesting relationship between him and the young woman in the brothel who tried to care for him in her capacity. Very true to life to this day and age where people simply do not take time to look out for their fellow man. Watching it once was enough for me. Very good actors/actresses and a timeless story. To me, the ending left things up in the air. Was disappointed in not knowing how he survived after all the heartbreaking turmoil. I wanted to adopt him ten times over.

This movie is on a par with Bergman's best films: The Seventh Seal, The Virgin Springs, and Wild Strawberries. It treats the existential question of loneliness and age in a similar way, and with similar depth.At the end of the film, I felt like my innards had been sucked out of me and deposited on the floor, and that I was essentially a formless sack of skin like something out of a Dali painting.Umberto D. is a triumph of cinema, profoundly treating ageing, loneliness, and the power of love. A timeless classic.

I ordered the supposed Multi-format. I received the Blu-ray. After researching on the internet, I do not think this movie is available as Multi-format. That format should be removed as an option

Very poignant naturalism in this Italian film from 1950's, directed by Vittorio DeSica. It is a character study of an old man who is impoverished, and only has his small dog for a friend, and his trying to make his way in a rapidly modernizing post war Rome. It is slow at times, but when the camera is on Carlo Battisti, as the old man, the film's sincerity is apparent, and as the dog is the only one faithful to his human master, some kind of philosophy must be underlying here, but just short of being pretentious. A decent artsy, foreign film.

So moving. So subtle. Exceptional art cinema.

One of De Sica's and Italian (and probably Cinema) best films ever.Umberto D tells about Italy in the hard and heavy moment of the post-war re-building, and in a way show a pain and a drama (I would say "tragedy) that the establishment did not want people to know then. They were all focused on telling another story, that of upcoming social and national improvement, while De Sica decided to adopt the neo-realistic approach and add an emotional and touching drama (that make this film a perfect mix of neo-realism and more personal, almost literary touch) to convey a bleak, sad vision of the current world.But this film is much more "universal", because it talks about solitude, unjustice and the sadness of getting old.And by telling that, De Sica shows his heart (the D in the title refers to his last name: this film is also a tribute to his beloved father), and creates a masterpiece that is not inferior to the great Bycicle Thieves, and also compete with Ozu's Tokyo Story and few other films for the best dramatic films ever made. Umberto D is like life: with no mercy but still a celebration of human being, who can reach out to what really counts when everything seem lost (one's own dignity or dog), and reminds us that the soul and the sensibility is the only thing that makes us noble. And De Sica, like his character, has proved it through this wonderful film.

Gran edición de uno de los máximos exponentes del neorrealismo italiano y obra maestra de Vittorio De Sica.Muy buena calidad de imagen (nitidez, contraste...) para un clásico que ya pasa los 60 años. Se aprecia alguna pequeña imperfección, pero de manera muy puntual. El máster de The Criterion Collection utilizado siempre es garantía de calidad.En cuanto al sonido, versión original (italiano; Dolby Digital 2.0 mono) y español (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono), con subtítulos en español disponibles.Algo cortita de extras, con una entrevista con la actriz Maria Pia Casilio y las habituales fichas técnicas y trailer. No obstante, se incluye también un libreto de 18 páginas muy interesante y cuidado.Deberían aprender ciertas editoras españolas que así es como se edita cine... y todo esto, a precio de derribo.

Ce film est très attachant et nous raconte l'histoire d'un homme qui a travaillé toute sa vie et qui n'arrive plus à survivreavec sa très maigre retraite. Ses amis lui tournent le dos, il n'a comme seul réconfort que la compagnie de son chien.Les gens qui aiment les animaux apprécieront beaucoup ce DVD et pourront admirer le professionnalisme des acteurs.

Excellent movie.I hesitated for long before getting the movie. Please don't hesitate.