Umberto Domenico Ferrari is a pathetic man. People just don’t like him. They avoid him. They try and screw him over. Maybe its him. He tells the one person who is good to him – his landlady’s maid – that he’ll get one of the men who might be her baby’s father to take responsibility, but he’s too cowardly (or self-centered) to do so.

For full disclosure I have to admit that I didn’t think much of The Bicycle Thief. Since its a classic of international cinema, I guess that makes me a philistine. The films of de Sica (and Cesare Zavattini) always have subtle writing and fine acting. But they don’t speak to me. On a gut level they seem empty because there’s no driving narrative.

The post-fascists and communists in Italy condemned this film as a critique on the Italian social net. They right thought it was unfair and the left thought it wasn’t a strong enough condemnation. But I think what the film was getting at is that no matter whether a person is likable or not, everyone still has a right to be happy. I agree with that sentiment. I just think the telling in Umberto D wasn’t very engaging.