The black and white film, Umberto D, directed by Vittorio De Sica in 1952 is an Italian Neo-Realism that is set in Rome, Italy. The protagonist in the film is Umberto Ferrari. He is a retired civil servant who is on the verge of losing his pension. The country as a whole is going through financial difficulty. The only interaction that Umberto gets is from the young housemaid, Maria, who becomes pregnant and his dog, Flicke. He is having problems with keeping his room rented and trying to find money to live on. Umberto goes through a lot of adversities and just as the audience thinks he can no longer handle things sheer luck occurs that keeps him going even in the end of the film.
This film fits all of the characteristics of being considered part of the Italian Neo-Realism genre. The film was set in the streets for the most part, depicts Umberto's day to day activities, and people can identify with Umberto because he is an underdog. The film was shot on location with a mixture of long shots, close ups (CU), straight shots, upward camera movement when different conversations occur with Umberto and other people, as well as lots of establishing shots. When the CUs do occur, there is a reflector that is used to make Umberto's eye shiner to draw the viewers in and make it more compelling. Also, the shot where he looks at the window very somberly helps the audience get a better idea of what he is thinking due to the harsh fast zoom in on his face and street along with the dramatic music.
The ending is ambiguous much like the film shown in class Bicycle Thief. Umberto was not able to keep is room, has no where to go and not a lot of money left. However, he was able to keep the one thing that meant most to him, Flicke. Even though, he tried to get rid of Flicke throughout the film him and Flicke are all they need in this world.
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