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Scene when Umberto is begging for money is a masterpiece in it's simplicity and I can name only few other scenes in history of cinema that moved me so much. Unfortunately rest of the film doesn't live up to the genius of that moment.

A good portion of the beginning had me wondering about whether I was going to like it or not. But as we get to know Umberto and how lonely his life is everything seems to gradually draw you in and ultimately it will knock you flat towards the end. It steers clear of melodrama completely and is very unsentimental. I loved it.

Stepping off his more naturalistic neorealism [present in Bicycle Thieves and earlier works], De Sica injects that same tone and emotion with cinematography that seems to be on another stratosphere of just about anything I've ever seen.

I like Bicycle Thief, but this one does far less for me. I really don't care for the character at all. Maybe you're not supposed to, but then what's the point? I like the fantastic use of perspective shots, though.

A simple, heartbreaking slice of life. I never thought so much emotion could be brought out by a simple story about an old lonely man and his dog, but De Sica really pulls it off. The scene where he considers the idea of swallowing his pride and begging for money is one of the most touching things I've seen.

Released the same year as Ikiru, the first two thirds of Umberto D. have a similar desperate tone to Kurosawa's meticulous masterpeice. Only in the beautiful final minutes of the film does Umberto D truly exceed all expectations, delivering one of the greatest life-affirming moments in cinema history. Basically, up there with Air Bud as far as dog pictures go.

This movie, on aging, mortality, companionship and neglect, is the greatest film of the 1950s, and perhaps the saddest film of all time. Considered a little schmaltzy by some, but to me far more genuine and less contrived than the neo-realist efforts of, say, Roberto Rossellini. Martin Scorsese: "Umberto D. is a great film about what it is to stand by and watch, helplessly, as you slip into poverty and even your dignity becomes excess baggage."

Vittorio de Sica hits it out of the park again with a devastating masterpiece.

Neorealism. Filming time as it is lived. Centering on an old guy and his dog. Boring, right? Wrong! This is touching and completely captivating. And if you agree and have yet to see De Sica's even better 'The Bicycle Thieves', you obviously should.

beautiful story in beautiful black and white. beautiful story in beautiful black and white. clear rating Facebook

Another terrible ending from Europe.

I respect it immensely, but I don't actually like it very much.

Umberto D. is original and belongs to a historically important movement, but not particularly candid or insightful. I felt impervious to some of its very transparent emotional manipulations. It's blatantly manipulative, but most of the actual fabric of the film felt sterile to me, maybe because it strained too much to be "mundane". However, toward the ending it picks up and succeeds in tugging the heartstrings.

A masterpiece.

Is this perhaps one of the most unintentionally heart-wrenching tales on the silver screen? De Sica aims at realism, not emotion, but in the face of life, and the always ignored and easily uncared for nothingness that is Mr. Umberto we find our own well of sympathy. The modern way is to take, then when all is given, to forget. You serve your whole life, then you stop and you're useless. De Sica is proof that you don't need to speak of Death or God etc to make great Art.

i hate rosselini, and italian neo-realism in general

I can't tell if the titular character is poorly realized, or just simply dull and uninteresting. Either way, it doesn't really work for me. However, it is loaded with beautiful photography, and I thought the ending was done really well.