Vittorio De Sica

Umberto D.

Umberto D.

This neorealist masterpiece by Vittorio De Sica follows an elderly pensioner as he strives to make ends meet during Italy’s postwar economic recovery. Alone except for his dog, Flike, Umberto struggles to maintain his dignity in a city where human kindness seems to have been swallowed up by the forces of modernization. His simple quest to satisfy his basic needs—food, shelter, companionship—makes for one of the most heartbreaking stories ever filmed, and an essential classic of world cinema

Share

Film Info

  • Italy
  • 1952
  • 88 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 1.37:1
  • Italian
  • Spine #201

Special Features

  • New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
  • That’s Life: Vittorio De Sica, a fifty-five-minute documentary about the director’s career, made for Italian television in 2001
  • Writings on Umberto D. by Umberto Eco, Luisa Alessandri, and Carlo Battisti (DVD only)
  • Interview with actress Maria Pia Casilio from 2003
  • Trailer
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: A new essay by critic Stuart Klawans and a reprinted recollection by De Sica (DVD and Blu-ray); a reprinted recollection by actor Carlo Battisti (DVD only)

New DVD cover by Lucien S. Y. Yang, new Blu-ray cover by Sarah Habibi

Purchase Options

Collector's Sets

Collector's Set

Essential Art House: 50 Years of Janus Films

Essential Art House: 50 Years of Janus Films

DVD Box Set

50 Discs

$650.00

Out Of Print

Special Features

  • New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
  • That’s Life: Vittorio De Sica, a fifty-five-minute documentary about the director’s career, made for Italian television in 2001
  • Writings on Umberto D. by Umberto Eco, Luisa Alessandri, and Carlo Battisti (DVD only)
  • Interview with actress Maria Pia Casilio from 2003
  • Trailer
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: A new essay by critic Stuart Klawans and a reprinted recollection by De Sica (DVD and Blu-ray); a reprinted recollection by actor Carlo Battisti (DVD only)

New DVD cover by Lucien S. Y. Yang, new Blu-ray cover by Sarah Habibi

Umberto D.
Cast
Carlo Battisti
Umberto Domenico Ferrari
Maria Pia Casilio
Maria
Lina Gennari
Landlady
Memmo Carotenuto
Man in hospital
Napoleone
Flike, Umberto's dog
Credits
Director
Vittorio De Sica
Screenplay
Cesare Zavattini
Screenplay
Vittorio De Sica
From an original story by
Cesare Zavattini
Produced by
Giuseppe Amato
Produced by
Vittorio De Sica
Produced by
Angelo Rizzoli Jr.
Sound
Ennio Sensi
Cinematography
Aldo Graziati
Editing
Eraldo Da Roma
Production design
Virgilio Marchi
Assistant directors
Luisa Alessandri
Assistant directors
Franco Montemurro
Music
Alessandro Cicognini

Related Films

1/3
2/3
3/3

Current

Seeing Clearly Through Tears: On the Smart Sentiment of Umberto D.
Seeing Clearly Through Tears: On the Smart Sentiment of Umberto D.
Umberto D. is perhaps the most astringent film ever made about a poor old man and his dog. Critics today tend to like the astringent parts: the long, deliberately undramatic sequences full of mundane activity (such as a housemaid’s morning routine)…

By Stuart Klawans

Essays — Sep 5, 2012
Watch This! Liv Ullmann Recommends . . .
Watch This! Liv Ullmann Recommends . . .
Back in October, the great Liv Ullmann stopped by Criterion to film a program for the release of Jan Troell’s 1970s films The Emigrants and The New Land, which form a two-part epic in which Ullmann stars alongside Max von Sydow. We took the opporut…
Short Takes — Dec 31, 2015
Film Picks from Agnès Varda, Arnaud Desplechin, Olivier Assayas, and More
Film Picks from Agnès Varda, Arnaud Desplechin, Olivier Assayas, and More
As part of the launch of the new French streaming video service La Cinetek—which was founded by the filmmakers Pascale Ferran (Bird People), Cédric Klapisch (Chinese Puzzle), and Laurent Cantet (Return to Ithaca), as well as Alain Rocca, president…
Short Takes — Nov 6, 2015
Keith Gordon’s Top 10
Keith Gordon’s Top 10

Filmmaker Keith Gordon has directed the features The Chocolate War (1988), A Midnight Clear (1992), Mother Night (1996), Waking the Dead (2000), and The Singing Detective (2003).

— Aug 26, 2015
Jesse Malin’s Top 10
Jesse Malin’s Top 10

After playing in hard-core and glam bands throughout the 1980s and ’90s, Queens-born singer-songwriter Jesse Malin released his first solo album, The Fine Art of Self Destruction, in 2002.

— Mar 31, 2015
James Schamus’s Top 10
James Schamus’s Top 10

James Schamus is the former CEO of Focus Features; the producer of, among other films, Ride with the Devil (1999) and Brokeback Mountain (2005); the screenwriter and producer of The Ice Storm (1997); and a professor of professional practice at Columb

…
— Apr 24, 2014
Greg Mottola’s Top 10
Greg Mottola’s Top 10

Greg Mottola has directed the feature films The Daytrippers, Superbad, Adventureland, and Paul, as well as episodes of the Judd Apatow TV series Undeclared, Arrested Development, and HBO’s The Comeback.

— Mar 17, 2011