I bambini ci guardano

A four-year old boy, Pricò, becomes the subject of emotional folly by his fluctuant parents and inattentive relatives.

Peter Brunette notes, "The Children Are Watching Us marks the first full blossoming of one of the most fruitful collaborations in world cinema history. The brilliant pairing of legendary Italian actor and hitherto commercial director Vittorio DeSica with Cesare Zavattini, the talented screenwriter who was to become the chief theorist of the neorealist movement that flourished in Italy right after World War II, created a synergy of magnificent proportions, which allowed each man to transcend his own individual limitations." So, Brunette might be a little flowery with his prose, but he is spot on. Regardless of whatever internal qualities this film has, good or bad, it is historically significant because of its place at the beginning of DeSica's career. This may be his least-known film, or at least one of the lesser known, but without it there would never have been "Bicycle Thieves", "Umberto D", or much of anything else. This really is the birth of the neo-realist movement that defined Italy for a generation.

THE CHILDREN ARE WATCHING US might be our favorite De Sica film and one of our favorite Italian films of all time. It portrays with delicate sympathy the suffering of a child whose parents are separated because of the mother's love affair with another man. While the husband and wife are perfectly portrayed, by Emilio Cigoli and Isa Pola, the film belongs to little Luciano De Ambrosis as the five-year-old Prico'. His performance, which runs the gamut of joy, anguish, and sickly fear, staggers us. But of course it was director De Sica who was to work miracles later with the child actors of SHOE SHINE and THE BICYCLE THIEF. The conclusion to this heartbreaking film is no less unforgettable than those of De Sica's better-known masterpieces. It is one of the most indispensable of movies from Italy's fascist era. And it is shamefully unknown today.

"The Children Are Watching Us" (1944) was the first film De Sica made in collaboration with the screenwriter Cesare Zavattini with whom he later made most of his films. The film works well as a sentimental introduction to his oeuvre. Already its title refers to De Sica's favorite subject of childhood which he studied all his life. In this film, he immerses into the realm of the child's gaze.

Although all the ingredients for a banal melodrama are present, De Sica eludes them with elegance. He does this precisely by focusing on the subject of childhood and, most importantly, on the child protagonist, his subjective experience and feelings of abandonment. Some may consider the adult characters of this divorce drama thin or black and white, and while this may be true, it is perfectly justified just as well because De Sica defines them by the child's point of view. Thus they are characterized by his mental distinctions, images and emotions.

As a matter of fact, the theme of watching is a leading idea in "The Children Are Watching Us". Throughout the film the protagonist observes his environment: the animals, the city, the puppet theater, the urban movement and, above all, the grown-ups. Not only is the familiar idea of the child's blaming gaze present but also his way of learning by imitation. A certain climax of this theme of watching can be seen in the scene where the boy and his father remain quiet, but experience a moment of understanding which De Sica depicts only by using extreme close-ups of their honest faces.

To go further in the analysis of the title, it should be noted that it is in plural, although there is really just one child, thus suggesting a more universal, moral message. The title is especially associated with the blaming gaze; that is to say, the child's ability to judge us by approval and disapproval. This is equivalent with the philosophy of De Sica's masterpiece "Bicycle Thieves" (1948) where a child character is used as a moral observer or, should I say, the protagonist's moral conscience.

In fact, a film historian Peter Bondanella has well noted that Roberto Rossellini's manifesto film of Italian neo-realism, "Rome, Open City" (1945) established children as the symbol for the future of Italy as a nation. This is evident in many films from the era and especially in De Sica's "Shoeshine" (1946) where boys must kneel down before American soldiers to shine their shoes. Although "The Children Are Watching Us" is completely free from such political thought as a sentimental drama, it gains its sadness from precisely similar elements "Shoeshine" does. In other words, the child protagonist feels emotionally helpless in a situation he doesn't understand, but what makes this even more poignant is the child's awareness of this situation; that is, of his own helplessness.

Luckily, this movie came on Turner Classic Movies a few years ago and I had the opportunity to see it.

Since then, I have searched for reviews and couldn't find one; it's nice to see that other people have seen this de Sica masterpiece. ;) I was beginning to wonder if I was the only American to see this.

If you have seen it, how can you not love this? As I said, I saw this a few years ago - and only saw it once - yet, there are so many images in my head as I think of the film. The story is heart-wrenching. I cried when I watched it. {blushing}

This film made me a fan of neo-realism. It also was the impetus for me to watch more of de Sica's films and then those of Rossellini and Fellini.

A terrific 'tear-jerker' which SHOULD NOT BE MISSED if you ever get the chance. You'll have missed something very special if you miss it!

This film caught me by surprise, I should say, gripped me by surprise. First, is its power to move deeply about which others have written. What might easily have seemed hollow and sentimental becomes compelling and searching because of the detailed performances given to all four of the central characters. Most amazing of these is Luciano De Ambrosis portrayal of Prico through whose eyes the story is told. The DVD includes an excellent 1984 interview with De Ambrosis in which he talks about working with De Sica. At one point the father carelessly knocks Prico into the side of a door. We know at once that the hurt to Prico is more emotional than physical, and we sympathize, but at the same time we also are drawn into the father's anguish that has brought him to this abuse. The moment is brief but hits home because it is well prepared for.

Of course the story through the boy's eye is the film through De Sica's lens, and it is always a revealing lens, emotionally caught up, frequently looking around corners or looking up at adult gossip. The world shown occasionally enters dream realities. One actual dream sequence made me think of Dali's questionable sequence in Hitchcock's "Spellbound," just three years later. However, where that is self-conscious and anything but dreamlike, this carried me off and felt genuine. I almost didn't notice as was drawn in, and everything reverberated feverishly as I was brought back. As one of the commentaries makes clear, the film had special resonance with the summer of 1942, just before war broke out. That only adds to its heart-wrenching power. The Children Are Watching Us is a magnificent plea for love and compassion. If it does not touch you, you must be very hard-hearted, indeed.