Umberto D

Today I went out to Nordstrom because I wanted to get like, only one pair of shoes for work, not realizing that it was their Anniversary Sale. I of course ended up leaving with new clothes and 3 pairs of shoes. I was tired from my extravagant day of spending, so I came home and settled in for some Italian take out, a Negroni, and today's movie - Umberto D, directed by Vittorio de Sica in 1952.

I'm usually not too in love with Italian neorealism, but this film was amazing. It was so quiet and sad, but so incredibly beautiful and moving to watch. It was really hard to watch it after I was in such a good mood from a fun day, but I'm still glad that I did. Just because it's often terribly sad doesn't make it a bad movie - and in my book, it makes it an amazing movie. I always think that it's pretty easy for movies to thrill or shock us, but it's harder to make people truly feel difficult emotions. Umberto D managed to do that for me, and I really loved it.

The Bicycle Thief

I have to admit, I was really dreading watching this. I have bad memories of Italian neorealism from film history classes. When I studied this genre, we had to watch Rome, Open City by Roberto Rossellini, which I didn't really love. We also were screened The Bicycle Thief, directed by Vittorio de Sica (1946). The classroom was slightly cold, where to get warm you had to curl up in your comfy, plush theater seat to generate body heat. As I watched the students around me one by one fall asleep, so did I.
Remembering this, I was not excited for trying to watch it again. My boyfriend knows all about my history of sleeping during any Italian neorealist films, so before he left last night, he put a Red Bull he had bought for himself into the fridge. "This is if you have an emergency during the movie," he told me seriously. I nodded solemnly. I tried to psyche myself up during the day. "If you go downstairs to watch this movie, you can eat the veggie sushi you bought and have a diet Mountain Dew!" I told myself. Not out loud. I promise. So, equipped with some treats, I tried to not get too comfortable to attempt to watch this film once and for all.