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Shoeshine

Sciuscià

1946

Vittorio De Sica

Franco Interlenghi, Rinaldo Smordoni, Bruno Ortenzi, Annielo Mele ...

8.0

2,767

Drama Rome, after WWII. At a track near the italian city, shoeshine boys are watching horses run. Two of the boys Pasquale, an orphan, and Giuseppe, his younger friend are riding. The pair have been saving to buy a horse of their own to ride... The boys meet Attilio, Giuse's much older brother, and his shady friend at a boat on the Tiber. In return for a commission, the boys agree to deliver black market goods to a fortune-teller. Once the ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	T.M.P. The New York Times	"'Shoe-Shine' mirrors the anguished soul of a starving, disorganized and demoralized nation with such uncompromising realism that the roughness of its composition is overshadowed by its driving, emotional force."	POS
United States	Bill Weber Slant	"While it may utilize Roman streets, slums, and outlying locations with more grit than a Warner Bros. juvenile-delinquent vehicle of the 1930s (...) De Sica doesn’t innovate or subvert expectations (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United States	Keith Phipps AV Club	"'Shoeshine' remains a powerfully affecting film that examines a Rome still crawling out from the wreckage of war, and it’s a stunning example of the emotional power of the close-to-the-gravel neo-realistic style"	POS
United States	Dave Kehr Chicago Reader	"De Sica has simply adapted studio shooting techniques to open-air situations; the film has none of the freshness and formal innovation of Rossellini's contemporary 'Open City' and 'Paisan'."	NEG
United Kingdom	Michael Newton The Guardian	"De Sica presents people who cannot reach each other through language, but stand hopeless and encased in their position in the world."	POS
United States	IndieWire	"It proved so moving that the film earned an honorary Academy Award, and paved the way for the establishment of the Best Foreign Film category shortly thereafter."	POS

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