Search - Shoeshine on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Mild Violence Movie Release: 1947 Format: DVD - Black and White Audio Tracks: Italian Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 31 mins Studio: Image Entertainment Members Wishing: 10 Genres: Drama, Coming-of-Age

Vittorio DeSica's Shoeshine (Sciuscia) is a must-see example of Italian neorealist cinema, ranking with such other neorealist classics as DeSica's Bicycle Thieves (1948) and Umberto D. (1952) and Roberto Rossellini's Rome, Open City (1945). Using nonprofessional actors, DeSica and co-screenwriter Cesare Zavattini, also one of neorealism's leading figures, paint an uncompromising picture of the lives of Italian street children abandoned by their parents at the end of World War II. The film concentrates on two such children, Giuseppe (Rinaldo Smerdoni) and Pasquale (Franco Interlenghi). With no one else to turn to, the boys form a solid friendship, as well as a "corporation" of sorts: they eke out a living shining the boots of American GIs. The boys' hope for a rosier future is manifested in their dreams of owning a beautiful white horse. This, along with all their other aspirations, is eradicated when the boys are inadvertently shipped off to a reformatory. A failure in Italy (director DeSica noted that postwar Italian audiences preferred the glossy escapism emanating from Hollywood), Shoeshine was a huge success worldwide, as well as the winner of a special Academy Awards. Like Bicycle Thieves, it combines DeSica's frequent focus on children with his emphasis on post-war social problems. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Pacifico Astrologo - Vittorio
Franco Interlenghi - Pasquale
Antonio Carlino - L'Abruzzese
Bruno Ortensi - Arcangeli
Aniello Mele - Raffaele
Emilio Cigoli - Staffera
Angelo D'Amico - Siciliano

Vittorio De Sica's neo-realist masterpiece Shoeshine comes to DVD with a standard full-frame transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The Italian soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Mono. English subtitles are accessible. This disc will be worthwhile for anyone who has an interest in Italian cinema. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide