The De Sica Collection (1948)

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The De Sica Collection - Volume One is a small, but by no means meagre collection of three wonderful films by the Italian master.

Vittorio de Sica's early life of poverty, inspired many of his greatest cinematic achievements and fortified his contribution to Italian neo-realism. While so many of his films centre on themes of social injustice, they also embody the human spirit with gentle humour and optimism. De Sica's timeless body of work will continue to provide enjoyment and inspiration to future generations for years to come.

The first film in this collection is widely regarded as a masterpiece. It is also arguably the most respected of de Sica's neo-realist films. The Bicycle Thief (Ladri di biciclette) was made in 1948 and is a defining film in world cinema. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1949 and is well presented in this collection from a restored print. Set during an era of high poverty in post-war Rome, The Bicycle Thief is the moving story of a man and his young son, as they desperately search for their stolen bicycle.

The second film is the Cannes winner from 1951 and my personal favourite, Miracle In Milan (Miracolo a Milano). Thankfully the quality of this print improves after the first few seconds, which look terrible. Generally speaking, the video transfer proved to be quite decent. Miracle In Milan is a lyrical fantasy, which is rich in subtle humour. While the film still champions the struggle of the socially underprivileged, it is far more whimsical than the typical film of the neorealist genre.

The third and final film in this collection is the rarely seen, The Roof (Il Tetto), which has also been transferred from a beautifully restored print. This 1959 film tells the story of a young, newly married couple and their frantic quest to find a place of their own to live. At the time of writing this review, The Roof is only available on DVD through this collection and is not available for purchase separately. This alone, makes the collection a must have for any serious admirer of the films of Vittorio de Sica.

The fact that Umbrella have titled this collection "volume one" would indicate they have plans to release additional volumes - let's hope so.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

The Bicycle Thief (Ladri Di Biciclette) (1948)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Main Menu Audio & Animation Featurette-Timeless Cinema Theatrical Trailer Trailer-I Vitelloni
Rating
Year Of Production	1948
Running Time	86:39
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Vittorio De Sica
Studio Distributor	Umbrella Entertainment	Starring	Lamberto Maggiorani Enzo Staiola Lianella Carell Gino Saltamerenda Vittorio Antonucci Giulio Chiari Elena Altieri Carlo Jachino Michele Sakara Emma Druetti Fausto Guerzoni
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$29.95	Music	Alessandro Cicognini

    Given the litres of ink that have been spilled about the Bicycle Thief (Ladri Di Bicyclette) since its release in 1948 it is difficult to approach it with pure objectivity. Often seen as the shining example of neo-realist cinema the film has consistently made it into lists of the finest films of the last century. In fact, it was the only film to top the influential Sight and Sound 10 yearly greatest films poll apart from Citizen Kane. Certainly it has all the hallmarks of neo-realism from war torn backdrops, to non-actors in the leads and strong but simple scripts about just surviving in a harsh post-war environment.

    The joy of this film is that far from being a museum piece it is an immediate and powerful work of art that transcends time.

    The plot of The Bicycle Thief couldn't be any simpler. It is based on a novel and co-scripted by director Vittoria de Sica's longtime collaborator Cesare Zavattin. The Second World War has ended and Italy is in economic and actual ruins. Jobs are scarcer than hen's teeth. Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani) is a married man with a young boy, Bruno (Enzo Staiola). His big chance comes when he is selected for a job hanging posters - the only catch is that he needs a bicycle. Though the bicycle is the most common form of transport in post war Rome (leaving aside walking) it is a luxury Antonio cannot afford. He has only just pawned his bicycle to buy food for the family. His wife decides to sell the family linen to buy back the bicycle and Antonio is overjoyed at his big break.

    As the title lets you know things turn bad for Antonio when a thief steals his bicycle whilst he is going about his job. The rest of the film is a chronicle of his increasingly unsuccessful attempts, with Bruno at his side, to find the bicycle and keep his job as well as his dignity.

    The closing images of the film are unforgettable but I wont spoil them for the first time viewer. Two other scenes do stand out as a testament to the brilliance of de Sica. The first is the moment when the linen is sold. The buyer's clerk takes the sheets and, climbing a huge warehouse shelf, places the linen at the top amongst thousands of others. With this simple image de Sica captures a city at breaking point and we realise how important a simple bicycle is to Antonio and to others like him.

    The other unforgettable scene is when Antonio, convinced the bicycle is forever lost, take Bruno to a restaurant. It is far beyond his ordinary means. The scene conveys desperation, happiness and the gulf between rich and poor in just a few minutes.

    Repeated viewing of the movie confirms de Sica as a master of composition, for the film is riddled with moments of small action going on behind and around the main action. Rather than being a distraction these little moments enrich the visual poetry of the film.

    After his success with Shoe -Shine (Sciuscià) the year before (de Sica won a special Oscar), Hollywood studios knocked and de Sica was offered Cary Grant for the role of Antonio. He countered with Henry Fonda probably due to the downtrodden hero he played in Grapes of Wrath. To his credit and to the relief of film lovers everywhere when the deal fell through de Sica made the film with non-actors in the leads. Of course, Grant or Fonda could have acted the role with their usual skill but there is something about Maggoriani that captures the lean hunger and desperation of Antonioni that actors could never convey. His performance is simple but riveting from beginning to end. Similarly Staiola gives an inspiring performance as Bruno. The cheeky sidekick boy is a staple of Italian cinema but Staiola is the real deal. His reactions are pitch perfect right down to the blend of anger, tears and shame when his father strikes him. It is his performance that captures the heart of the film. It is not a movie about a bicycle but a portrait of a father and son and the twin concerns of dignity and respect.

    Aside from the performances of the non-actors the city of Rome plays a major role. Once again it is the look of the city with its beautiful churches contrasted with the poverty and effects of the war that brings home the truth of the piece in a way that no Hollywood studio could hope to do. The mournful score from Alessandro Cogognini is a constant voice in the film sharing the emotional ride of the characters. The Bicycle Thief won a special Academy Award for best foreign language film of 1949.

    Although the mood of desperation, heartbreak and poverty may not be to everyone's liking, the straight-forward drama of the film makes it a classic that demands to be seen.

Video

    The Bicycle Thief was originally shot on 35mm film at an aspect ratio of 1.37:1. It comes to DVD in a 1.33:1 transfer that does full justice to the original film. The film begins with new credits indicating (as far as I could make out with my poor grasp of Italian) that this is a restored print. It can be difficult to tell how much restoration has gone on with European films from this era as finding a decent source print can be an impossible task. This is no Citizen Kane or Casablanca which have been restored so cleanly that they look brand new. This is a print which exhibits, to varying degrees of seriousness, just about every film defect imaginable. The print is damaged and there are artefacts throughout including a curious blob which resembles a dead fly at 55.56. There are a few sharp edits suggesting irreparably damaged frames, some flickering and a persistent grain throughout. Having said that, for its age it is still acceptable and at times stunning to look at. This is particularly so as the film was largely shot outdoors on location.

    The manner of subtitling in this movie may be controversial for some. The subtitles are removable. However, the film is not completely subtitled as there are numerous exchanges throughout that are not translated. My suspicion is that the dialogue not included is routine and that the subtitlers wanted to convey the essentials of the script without overburdening it with words. It was not a big issue for me and, in fact, this is one of those movies you could watch in its native language without missing too much of the story as the plot is simple and the actors clear in their motivations.

    Whilst I am gratified to see the film again and believe the video transfer to be adequate this is a film that deserves to be lovingly restored and remastered and I hope that Region 4 gets such a release in the future.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The sound for The Bicycle Thief is Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s). This is adequate for the film but I would still appreciate a digital remastering if only for the haunting and ever-present theme music. Lip sync was generally good despite the obvious use of overdubs in some scenes.

    As might be expected there is a persistent hiss under the soundtrack but it was not too annoying. There were a couple of points at which the sound was weak, particularly in the short rear-projected driving scene at 37.44 and examples of distortion through over recording in a few moments such as the church scene at 46.55 and outside the soccer stadium commencing at around the 78 minute mark and following.

    Despite these the sound was still adequate and did not detract from the movie.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    The extras for this movie are highly enjoyable if not specifically appropriate to the movie itself. They also differ from those described on the case.

Main Menu Audio & Animation

    This is a simple screen accompanied by the dramatic theme of the movie.

That's Life - A Documentary about Vittorio De Sica

    This is a long presentation covering the whole of the career of de Sica. Despite the description on the case and on the menu it is actually called Timeless Cinema. It is actually presented by the director himself and seems to have been a live tribute evening of sorts. Anyone with a passing interest in classic cinema or de Sica himself will find this feature a goldmine. The date of filming is unclear but it can't have been too many years before the death of de Sica in 1974. Aside from the live material there are oodles of excerpts from his films as well as on-set interviews on films stretching back to Shoeshine. With this wealth of historical material comes a caveat: the quality of the source material is average, with some of it awash in a greenish tinge. The only other point to note is that there is not that much about The Bicycle Thief itself. This film is almost good enough to release separately so it is a major bonus for this release and makes up for the lack of a critic's commentary of the film itself.

Gallery

    The stills gallery referred to on the rear on the retail case does not appear to be on the DVD.

Theatrical Trailer

    The trailer is also a strange beast. It is really a short promotion for Miracle in Milan, the next de Sica feature and is "hosted" by the star of that movie. In a funny touch the posters for three de Sica movies at the beginning of the trailer are put up by Lamberto Maggiorani dressed as Antonio!

Trailer

    These are some trailers for some other great Madman releases.

    The Region 1 release of The Bicycle Thief apparently has burned in subtitles and is unrestored. It does not have the long feature on the Region 4 edition but does have filmographies and the theatrical trailer.

    In my quest to find out more about the restoration process for this DVD I have noted that the English Region 2 release speaks of a new digitally restored transfer. As said above the Region 4 version seems to be a quality assemblage rather than a digital restoration. I have read three reviews of the Region 2 release and the comments the reviewers make as to picture quality are similar to my own. My view is that the Region 4 is the equal of the Region 2 and that the Region 4 is preferable until someone decides to restore it frame by frame.

    The Bicycle Thief is a classic movie not just because it represents an important part of film history. There are many historically important movies around that are all but unwatchable now with modern eyes. The Bicycle Thief is not such a movie. It is every bit as powerful, tragic and dramatic now as it was when I first saw it 20 years ago. A more detailed restoration would be nice but overall the movie stands up despite its age and wear. Buy it.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Miracle in Milan (Miracolo a Milano) (1951)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Main Menu Audio & Animation Featurette-Documentary On The Premiere Interviews-Crew-Manual De Sica And Brunella Bovo Gallery-Stills Theatrical Trailer Trailer-I Vitelloni
Rating
Year Of Production	1951
Running Time	93
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Vittorio De Sica
Studio Distributor	Umbrella Entertainment	Starring	Emma Gramatica Francesco Golisano Paolo Stoppa Guglielmo Barnabò Brunella Bovo Anna Carena Alba Arnova Flora Cambi Virgilio Riento Arturo Bragaglia Erminio Spalla Riccardo Bertazzolo Checco Rissone
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$29.95	Music	Alessandro Cicognini

    Miracle in Milan, released in 1951, is bookended by director Vittorio de Sica's two neo-realist masterpieces The Bicycle Thief and Umberto D. In stark contrast to those movies, Miracle in Milan is an enjoyable fable set against the neo-realist world rather than an example of slice-of-life cinema itself.

    Like those films mentioned, Miracle in Milan was a collaboration between de Sica and writer Cesare Zavattini.

    The story begins, as do all good fables, with the words "Once upon a time". Young Toto (Francesco Golisano) is discovered in a cabbage patch by an elderly woman. She raises and tutors him. At her death he is put into an orphanage. He leaves the orphanage with a positive attitude towards life and an irrepressible smile.

    After an incident when his bag is stolen he comes into contact with a member of Milan's poor who offers him a bed for the night in a tent land on the outskirts of town. The presence of Toto energises the homeless community and when the tents are destroyed in a wind storm, the residents are galvanised into building a small shanty town. Against this down-and-out backdrop de Sica throws some greedy landowners and the film becomes something of a battle between the rich and the poor. Not only has Toto got a magical soul, but through divine intervention he receives the power to grant real wishes, a focus of the last third of the movie. The power is a great gift but it comes with its own problems.

    This is not simply a film about the trauma of poverty in post-war Italy. Although principally a comedy there are times where, almost surreptitiously, it becomes a stinging indictment on behaviour of the big business after the war. The poor go about their little lives with a modicum of dignity and a honesty, but once oil is discovered in the shanty town big business sets out to protect its own interest at the expense of this well-ordered society.

    All this is couched in a fantastical story with a continuous undercurrent of comedy. These poor do not bemoan their fate or threaten to rise up against the rich; as they say in their song, the rousing theme of the movie:

    Miracle in Milan is not a masterpiece; but it is a fun and enjoyable film (something that is hard to say about most neo-realist cinema!) with great performances from Francesco Golisaino - who sadly died in a car crash in 1958 - and others, including Brunella Bruni as Toto's love interest. Although de Sica had a strong point to make, the film uses humour to draw back from its darkest moments. Ultimately, he emphasises the strength and spirit of the poor.

    In an interview included as an extra, the director's son notes that the original title of the movie was "The Poor Are a Disturbance," but was changed to make the film more of a celebration that an indictment. De Sica also dispels the myth that neo-realist films were shot quickly on location. Apparently, a great deal of time was taken with rehersals for the many non-actors who made up the cast, including a core of apparently hard drinking tramps who had to be woken for the morning shoot with buckets of water! The fact that the film has such a large cast of non-actors makes it less successful than other de Sica neo-realist films, as the overall standard of performance is uneven. Perhaps that is due to the demands of comedy rather than the particular group of people chosen.

    Like Forrest Gump, Toto is exposed to some of the worst in human nature but comes through with a smile.

    Miracle in Milan was the winner of the grand prix at Cannes in 1951 as well as the 1951 New York Film Critics' Award. Unlike de Sica's two previous films, it was not rewarded an Oscar and represents an unusual blend of the fantastical with neo-realist cinema. Miracle in Milan is enjoyable in itself and is indispensible for any fan of early Italian cinema or the works of de Sica.

Video

    Miracle in Milan is presented on DVD in a 1.33:1 transfer which is close to its original aspect ratio. Like The Bicycle Thief, this film has been through the restoration process. The process has really been one of nicely putting the film together, rather than concentrating on the complete restoration of the image. After a very shaky start with a production logo that's about to fall apart, the film settles into a comfortable state of acceptable image quality. The visual quality of the film varies, with some scenes exhibiting damage and artefacts aplenty while others relatively clear. The level of grain is not excessive. All in all the image quality is satisfactory.

    According to the director's son, there was some computer improvement of some scenes, particularly the special effects. Those effects still look cheesy even by the Hollywood standards of the day, but that does not detract from the spirit of the film.

    There is an acceptable level of grain in the movie and there are also instances where the stock jumps between different quality image quite remarkably. For example at 28:50, the film cuts between Toto and his girl and the visual quality between the two shots is entirely different. Once again this is acceptable given the nature of the source material but such moments are noticeable.

    The overall image is fairly soft.

    All in all, this is probably the best that Miracle in Milan will look until someone decides to conduct a frame by frame restoration.

    There are removable sub-titles which are clear and easy to read.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The film is delivered in Italian mono (224Kb/s). This is perfectly acceptable for the dialogue as well as the memorable music by Alessandro Cicognini (who also scored The Bicycle Thief). The dialogue is delivered clearly.

    The soundtrack itself is a little worse for wear with some underlying hiss but this is to be expected with a film of this age.

    The lip synch is not perfect but is not a real distraction.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    Miracle in Milan includes a series of short extras, although nothing like the extensive documentary that was included on The Bicycle Thief DVD.

Main Menu Audio & Animation

    The simple main menu image is accompanied by the rousing song from the movie.

Featurette Premiere in Milan (2:36)

    This is a newsreel type short showing various small and large Italian film stars gathering at the premiere of the film. At the end de Sica is interviewed briefly before he tells the cameraman that he has to go back to work.

Interviews - Manuel de Sica (6:52)

    Manuel de Sica, the son of the director, talks about the efforts he went to in overseeing the restoration of the film and tells some stories about the film itself, no doubt passed down from his father. He talks about the difficulties of using a non-professional cast and some of the changes that were made to the original script to tone down some of the hopelessness of the poverty at the core of the film. He is an interesting speaker and this feature is a little short. It would have been useful to hear a commentary by Manuel de Sica as he has clearly put a lot of effort into studying the film.

Interviews - Brunella Bovo (5:17)

    Brunella Bovo, who plays the young girl in the film, talks about her experience with de Sica in the screen test. She talks about how difficult it was working on location on the film, exposed to all the elements and also how some of the special effects were achieved using wire work.

Theatrical Trailer (4:52)

    This is the same trailer that features on The Bicycle Thief DVD. In fact, it is more appropriate to this film as most of the trailer features scenes from Miracle in Milan and is narrated by Francesco Golisano. It is interesting to watch although there is a problem with the subtitles which are burnt into the print. The sub-titles are large and red outlined and are hard to read, despite being very large. However, the biggest problem is that each time the image changes from a sub-titled frame to a non-subtitled frame, there is a marked shift in contrast, which is quite annoying once you notice it.

Trailer

    This is a series of trailers for other releases particularly of early Italian cinema.

    The versions available in each Region appear to be the same except, as with The Bicycle Thief DVD, the promised image gallery is nowhere to be found. If those are important to you choose another Region (assuming they are actually on there!), otherwise the Region 4 release is sufficient.

    Miracle in Milan is a quality Italian movie albeit more quirky than de Sica's other films from this period.

    The transfer is not great but is the best available without a comprehensive restoration.

    The extras are a bit brief compared to those on The Bicycle Thief DVD, but still of some interest.

    The casual movie fan won't find much to attract them with this release but any fan of Italian cinema will find it a real joy particularly the enthusiastic performance from Francesco Golisano.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

The Roof (Il tetto) (1956)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Interviews-Cast-Gabriella Pallotta Introduction-Interview with Manual De Sica Theatrical Trailer-The Roof (Tetto, Il) Teaser Trailer-Umbrella Trailers
Rating
Year Of Production	1956
Running Time	94:36
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Vittorio De Sica
Studio Distributor	Umbrella Entertainment	Starring	Gabriella Pallotta Giorgio Listuzzi Luisa Alessandri Angelo Bigioni Gastone Renzelli Maria Di Fiori
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$39.95	Music	Alessandro Cicognini

    In an era of economic hardship, how does a newly married young couple gain independance and break the neccesity of living with relatives in an over-populated household? The answer to this question forms the central theme of Vittorio De Sica's rarely seen 1956 film, The Roof (Il Tetto).

    Winner of the OCIC Award at Cannes in 1956, The Roof never quite gained the high reputation of many other neorealist films of the period. It is never the less a memorable, heartwarming tale of love and community amid tough economic times.

    The Roof has recently undergone a wonderful restoration and we are now fortunate to finally have the film released to DVD.

    Immediately after their wedding, Natale (Giorgio Listuzzi) and Luisa (Gabriella Pallotta) move in to live with his family. The unbelievably cramped conditions in the house inhibits any amorous contact. With this fact and the continuous criticism leveled at Luisa, it isn't long before tempers boil over and the newly weds decide that they simply must leave.

    With very little money or possessions, the young couple struggle to find appropriate accommodation anywhere in the city. All around Rome, squatters are building meager shacks on unclaimed land. This illegal practice is heavy patrolled by officials and if discovered during construction, the authorities order the immediate demolition of the structure. Natale works as an apprentice bricklayer and is aware of the Italian law, which stipulates that once a roof is completed on a dwelling, the authorities cannot pull it down.

    After selecting a patch of land by the rail track and spending all they have on materials, all is ready for the big construction effort. Under the cover of darkness, the rallied gang of workers toil frantically to construct a tiny, but livable abode. At daybreak, and as the construction nears competition, the authorities arrive.

    At the time of writing this review, The Roof is only released as part of Umbrella Entertainment's De Sica Collection - Volume One and is not available for purchase separately.

Video

    The Roof is presented fullscreen in an aspect ratio of 1.31:1, which is not 16x9 enhanced. I could not confirm the correct ratio, but it is likely to be 1.37:1.

    This transfer is the best of the three films in Umbrella's De Sica Collection - Volume One. While sharpness levels did vary slightly throughout the film, they were generally excellent for a film of this vintage. Blacks were clean and shadows held tremendous detail.

    The Roof was filmed in black and white, so there were no issues with colour.

    There were no MPEG artefacts noticed in the transfer. Film-to-video artefacts were very well controlled. To be totally pedantic, a couple of very minor instances of alaising were noticed on window shutters. To be fair though, these were barely noticeable. This restoration has resulted in an incredibly clean print. As such, film artefacts were almost non-existent.

    The only subtitles available on the disc are English. They are easily legible in bold yellow, but they cannot be removed. At first glance it would seem the subtitles have been burned into the print, however the DVD player function allows for them to be disabled. The problem is, when this option is selected the titles still remain even though technically they have been turned off.

    This is a single sided, DVD 9 disc. The layer change was noticeable, but not overly disruptive at 73:00.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There is only one audio track available on the disc, Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (224Kb/s).

    Although my comprehension of the Italian language is very limited, the quality of the dialogue seemed to be very good.

    There were no apparent issues with audio sync.

    The original music score is credited to Alessandro Cicognini. The music is quite consistent with the period and blends with the film really well.

    Naturally, there was no surround or subwoofer activity.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The main menu is static and features a sample of Alessandro Cicognini's score.

Interview with Gabriella Pallotta (11:44)

    An emotional Gabriella Pallotta talks about her memories of The Roof and of Vittorio De Sica. She discusses how she won the role of Luisa and how the film subsequently changed her life. Gabriella has great respect for De Sica. She is also very proud of her involvement in the film and the small part she has played in the history of Italian cinema.

Interview with Manual De Sica (6:21)

    Manual is the son of Vittorio De Sica. Although he was quite young at the time, he discusses his memories of The Roof's production. Manual provides some background information about the film and his father's dedication.

Theatrical Trailer  - The Roof (Il Tetto)  (3:43)

    The trailer has also been restored. It has the original Italian audio, with no English subtitles.

Umbrella Trailers

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall