During Italy’s economic boom, Giovanni falls into debt to maintain the living standards his family has become accustomed to. After defaulting on a loan, he finds himself faced with financial ruin. When a wealthy, partially blind stranger asks to buy one of Giovanni’s eyes, he accepts in desperation.

Less renowned than his neorealist opus Bicycle Thieves yet equally vital, Vittorio De Sica’s absurdist, mordant satire is a pinnacle of commedia all’italiana. Training its sights on a cruelly transactional society, Il Boom gives new meaning to the Italian idiom “it will cost you an eye of the head!”