Morten_5 "Shoeshine" (1946), the seventh film by legendary Italian neorealist director Vittorio De Sica, was a great critical success and became the first foreign film to be recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, receiving an honorary award./Mårten Larsson, Facebook & Twitter: @7thArtShortRevs

popcorninhell Just two years before Vittorio De Sica changed the world with The Bicycle Thieves (1948), the universally famous actor/director made a small, simple and beautiful movie by the name of Shoeshine (1946). Taking place in war ravaged Italy, the film features the stories of two young shoeshine boys who are tasked with delivering black market goods and get caught in a web of intrigue. Once they are caught by the police, their friendship is challenged when they're sent to an overcrowded boy's penitentiary.The majority of the film takes place in the penitentiary where the two boys (Franco Interlenghi and Rinaldo Smordoni) are separated from each other almost instantly. Forced into separate cells each holding five boys, they become the center of their own maelstroms when one mistakenly betrays the other. I won't ruin the whole picture other than mentioning that the main source of motivation early on is a horse they bought together.The period sets the tone for the film. Despite a bouncy score that highlights every small victory experienced by the characters, the lack of sustenance and poor conditions of life in and out of the penitentiary keeps things gloomy. The boys eat gruel which the warden calls "passable", medical help is slow and ineffective and beds are riddled with lice. Even one of the more kind-hearted superiors finds objection to the state of things. Yet at one point one of the boys calls his new home "paradise" because of its only slightly better living standard than sleeping in an elevator.The film is considered one of the first Italian neorealist works which would leave an indelible mark on Italian cinema and movies worldwide. The form contends with economic hardship and moral denigration as a canvas. Many times they would shoot in and around the streets of Italian cities and even hire non-professional actors to intensify the realism. Often this was for practical reasons. The aftermath of World War Two left the film industry (previously under the close watch of Mussolini) unable to maintain their studios.The Bicycle Thieves stands as the pinnacle of Italian neo-realism but for my money Shoeshine is the better movie. Both stories are quite compelling but from an outsider's perspective, the multiple Italian customs and the research required to understand them are much more-a- plenty in Bicycle Thieves. Additionally the main characters of Shoeshine are children no older than twelve. While in many cases this would be a slight when comparing one movie to another, the actors in Shoeshine act much more authentically to their predicament. There is one scene where the boys trot a horse down the street as the other shoeshine boys either cheer in zeal, or jeer in jealousy. They preen and strut like they're the talk of the town, the belle of the ball, or to put another way; two poor kids with a horse. How can you not smile at that image?There is a famous review of Shoeshine by the famous Pauline Kael where she mentions a "… petulant voice of a college girl complaining to her boyfriend, 'well, I don't see what was so special about that movie.'" She then claimed alienation from those who could not experience "the radiance of Shoeshine." In many ways I feel the same about it. If you're not effected by De Sica's first classic then you're not fully human.http://theyservepopcorninhell.blogspot.com/

MartinHafer I am a huge admirer of the films directed by Vittorio De Sica during the 1940s. Using what is referred to as the 'neo-realist' style, he was able to craft many brilliant classics using ordinary folks in ordinary situations. So, without stage-bound sets and professional actors, he was able to make films superior to Hollywood--and among the best films ever. Try watching "The Children Are Watching Us", "Umberto D"or "Miracle in Milan" and you'll see what I am talking about--brilliant and compelling fro start to finish. The only negative about the films is that sometimes they can be incredibly depressing--and that is certainly the case with "Umberto D" and "Shoeshine". Depressing, but also amazing.Like the other neo-realist films, this one stars very ordinary folks--lots of kids--not professionals. Considering how hard it is to get realistic portrayals from kids, he really has to be commended for this. And, like this style of film, it was shot throughout Rome in various locations--not sets. And in the process, De Sica really hit a home run--chronicling a very sad period in Italian history.The film is set in Allied occupied Italy circa 1944. Folks are poor and hungry and jobs are hard to come by. Amidst this poverty, two kids (Pasquale and Guiseppe) are inexplicably saving all the money they can to buy a horse! And so, they take odd jobs, shine shoes and scramble to make a buck. When they are nearing their goal, they are tricked into doing a 'simple' job for Giuseppe's brother--and get arrested for stealing blankets from the Allied forces. Surprisingly, despite their age and how non-serious their crime appeared to be, the two are dealt with VERY harshly and are sent to a god-awful juvenile prison--where starvation and neglect are the norm. Most of the film is set in this awful place and it's a fascinating historical portrait of this period of time in recent history. I could say a lot more about what happens there but I don't want to spoil the surprise. Suffice to say, it's all very tragic--and you might want to have some Kleenex nearby just in case.The biggest strength of the film is the realistic acting by all the kids. You don't get the impression they are acting but that really are kids sent to prison. Also, although this might put some off, the story's insistence that it NOT have a nice happy ending is also a plus. Although I don't want a steady supply of depressing movies, I love that the film was not afraid to be sad in order to tell the story effectively. Well worth seeing and if you enjoy this film, I suggest you then try "The Children Are Watching Us" next--it is, in my opinion, De Sica at his directorial finest.

MisterWhiplash Sciuscia, or Shoeshine, tells a tragedy involving two boys, Pasquale and Giuseppe, both of whom try and make money from shining shoes, and also in dealing with black market goods. They hope to buy a horse one day (a wonderful opening shot of a horse running fast gets this point across since this is at its core a film of adolescence), but complications involving Giuseppe's older brother and gang land the two boys in jail just as they have enough for the horse. The film then deals with the boys in the reformatory/prison, over-crowded with conniving, shady influences as cell-mates, as well as the people who run the prison. To tell anymore of the plot would ruin it for the viewer who would go out of his way to find this - it's near impossible to find, which is a shame since The Bicycle Thief and Umberto D. are readily available in most stores and rentals - and it's enough to say that much of the film relies more on character than story. Because the director's dealing with a group of near total unknowns, they come first. This film, by Vittorio De Sica, was made very soon after the War had decimated the country he lived in. He didn't just want to make this movie, he had to- these characters are as real as their backdrop, a country still in the aftermath of a fascist state of affairs, and since the film deals with children there's all the more emotion to it. The only, very minor liability in the film is that the drama in the material isn't as simple and everyday as DeSica's later, more famous efforts; if it was under different direction it could've become a forgettable tearjerker. But the tragedies of these characters, Pasquale and Giuseppe, is splendid in the humanity that they feel, as it unfolds, and by the end it rings as true as any other given neo-realist effort of the late 40's and early 50's. Shoeshine is one of those rarities that may give a tear-jerker to someone who isn't expecting one, and I mean that as a compliment. Note, if you find this tape, it may be rather grainy and slightly shifty in frame, and the subtitles aren't complete- not to downplay the worth of the film in and of itself, however.