FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Vittorio de Sica - Miracle In Milan 

Vittorio De Sica firmly believed that everyone could play a role: Himself. He worked closely with screenwriter Cesare Zavattini, a member of the Italian Communist Party. Both found inspiration in post-war Italy, a time of poverty and deprivation. The stories were within their grasp, virtually on the street. De Sica, born in 1902, was a good-looking man, a sought-after beau on the big screen. His first directorial works were light comedies, similar to the comedies in which he himself appeared as an actor. Perhaps it was the harsh reality of the Second World War that shattered the optimism necessary for such stories? And so in 1942 he directed The Children Are Watching (DVD5617), which followed shortly after Visconti's Ossessione (DVD7176), which many consider to be the first neo-realist feature film. At least that's what this type of film was called, although there were already films in the silent film era that took a bold and unvarnished look at everyday life. In any case, De Sica shot the film with real people and not actors. An astonishing effect for audiences who were used to Hollywood glamour! I remember a video evening at our local video shop. We were watching Umberto D. (DVD1316) and my friend Anisa had tears in her eyes. She was still crying long after the film had finished. People who don't cry and empathise with Umberto D. - I doubt whether they can empathise at all! Neorealism was a term that could mean many things. It refers to films that are set in the working class and show the poverty of the people. Implicit in them is the message that a better life is possible! They are works of art, not cold and smooth like those from Hollywood. They are works of art that recognise the feeling of confusion. The coincidence that is inherent in everything we experience. Miracle In Milan is in this tradition and yet seems much more cheerful. Who knows, maybe some early American films with their sly, compassionate humour were the inspiration? Whereas de Sica's previous neo-realist works were as hopeless as they were heartbreaking, here we find ourselves almost in a comedy with fantasy elements! Until then, de Sica used human humiliation for tragic material, this time to show the irony of life. In the form of a fairy tale. It is about how we humans live in dreams full of self-deception. A fairy tale that teaches us to be cheerful, to improve our sense of community - and to trust the owners of the land on which we live only until they strike oil...