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Somewhere between the finish of the Second World War and the
end of the rainbow a kindly old woman finds Toto in a cabbage
patch. She cares and loves him till the day she dies and he
finds himself shipped to an orphanage. When he grows to be
a man he emerges as an innocent abroad in a larger world that
he little understands, but is able to mould with his naïve
philosophy. He moves to a shanty town in Milan, where the
sun only shines in one place at a time, and helps them form
a community. When the capitalistic robber barons attempt to
move the people he is on hand with his magic dove to help...
The
Italian neorealism movement in films didn't last very long
and effectively ended in nineteen forty-eight. As Italy moved
away from the depression of the immediate post war years and
employment and wages increased past pre-war levels, there
was less of an appetite for the stark realities of poverty
and a move back to the fantasies provided by Hollywood. On
the political front the left wing parties were defeated in
the elections and there was a general shift away from the
concerns of the working man.
Although
Federico Fellini's La Strada is held to be the death
knell for this type of cinema we can also see it happening
to De Sica's own film making in Miracle in Milan. The
social background still exists but onto this De Sica has hung
a fantasy that has more in common with Chaplin; it's the start
of the social surrealist form of story telling, so it is fitting
that the film starts with those immortal words from many a
fairy story "Once upon a time". With so many staged
elements the film could not hope to hold to the original tenants
of neorealism, though together with Umberto D and The
Bicycle Thieves, it represents De Sica's creative
high point.
Although
the film has an over arcing narrative, it actually feels more
like a series of set character pieces, many of which lean
towards sentimentalism. If this gives the impression of a
slow film, nothing could be further from the truth. Whilst
the first section of the film is virtually silent as far as
dialogue is concerned, as soon as the musical score, by Alessandro
Cicognini, kicks in, the narrative moves at a cracking pace.
The score whorls around the on screen drama like a dervish
on acid, Part mad fairground Wurlitzer, part funky freeform
jazz, the score never lets the pace slow a heartbeat.
Francesco
Golisano plays Toto as a true stranger in a strange land,
raised first by the old lady who found him, who has, herself,
a good sense of the absurd, and then within the confines of
the orphanage. It is not that he is ill equipped to deal with
life, after all he is able to unite the tramps for their own
common good, it is rather that his childhood innocence and
wonder has survived. Golisano's childlike performance compliments
the fairy tale aspect of the film.
This
release of the film show some print damage, most noticeably
during the first 30 seconds, however the print, overall, is
in good condition though the quality can be variable. I would
hazard a guess that some, if not all of the print, has been
restored. Sound is stereo in Italian with optional English
subtitles.
There
are some nice extras on the disc, including the opening of
the film in Milan with both the writer and director of the
film doing a nineteen forties version of the 'wasn't everyone
great' featurette that has become the bane of DVD. There are
a couple of interviews and the usual poster and lobby cards.
Given the age of the film it's surprising to find this amount
of extras.
A bit of an oddball film, whose social subtext is somewhat
drowned out by the overwhelming visual absurdity.
Charles
Packer
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