I bambini ci guardano

De Sica's first Neo-Realist film had been neglected over the years and, so, it was a surprise to see it being added to "The Criterion Collection". Ultimately, it's not up to his later more celebrated quartet - SHOESHINE (1946), THE BICYCLE THIEF (1948), MIRACLE IN MILAN (1951) and UMBERTO D (1952) - but, taken on its own modest merits, it's a reasonably effective work coming from an actor best-known for light fare!

As indicated by the title, the narrative is seen through the eyes of the sensitive young son of a working-class couple; the mother is having an affair and the boy is witness to - and the victim of - the inevitable disintegrating family ties, being bounced around from the household of one begrudging relative to another. The couple make a determined effort to stay together for the sake of the child (having to contend, besides, with the nosy and gossiping tenants of their condominium) - but the impetuous young man who has come between man and wife won't give her up so easily, and he finally manages to tear her from them for good. In desperation, the husband commits suicide…

The plot is pretty melodramatic and the film is infused with a good deal of sentimentality (there are plenty of close-ups of the boy weeping his heart out, for instance); clearly, De Sica's hand isn't confident as yet in juggling the various elements that comprise such slices-of-life - for one thing, he has used actors rather than the non-professionals who would come to serve him in good stead in his subsequent Neo-Realist classics. Even so, the three leading performances are undeniably excellent...while the film's real coup is to be found in its devastating - and truly uncompromising - conclusion.

This Italian melodrama concerns the effects on 4-year-old Prico (Luciano De Ambrosis) of his parents' dissolving marriage. His mother (Isa Pola) is having an affair, and is planning on abandoning the family, while Prico's father (Emilio Cigoli) seems powerless to fix the situation. Even when the mother's guilt from leaving her son becomes too much and a reconciliation is attempted, old passions rise up, all before the watchful eyes of young Prico.

On paper this sounds like something I'd detest, an overheated melodrama with a kid as the central focus. However, this is not the product of the American production code in which a little kid is just thrown into the proceedings to appease the censors. Instead, director De Sica manages to handle the story with finesse and style, and it ended up being one of the best movies that I've seen in a while. Young De Ambrosis is very good as the wide-eyed little boy, imbuing the proper sadness when needed. The supporting performances are all good, and much of their inner lives and motivations are left up to the viewer to figure out, as things are seen from the child's point of view.

The camerawork is also noteworthy, with a few striking scenes, such as the camera moving lithely through a crowded hotel dining room, or a series of dramatic close-ups late in the film. The powerful ending is moving and memorable.

"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.

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 story relates the disintegrating marriage of a bourgeois couple, indicated through their modern, spacious apartment and the housekeeper they employ. This distinguishes the film from the better known Italian neo realist works which typically take place against a backdrop of poverty and deprivation. The story is seen through the eyes of their young son, Prico.

Far more obscure than de Sica's other work, this is still nonetheless a classic because it endures, the story could take place just as easily today, with a few minor adjustments of clothing and details.

I don t agree this film is sentimental, it manages to stay just the right side of mawkishness. However, it still tugs at your heart strings, the child is just superb. The sign of a genius director that De Sica was able to manage the logistics of the crew, the equipment and coax this sort of performance out of a four year old.

This film put me in mind of Brief Encounter and it would be interesting to watch the two alongside. Both deal with infidelity and both are fantastically moving films.

The Criterion DVD is an excellent transfer. There are a couple of interviews on the disc and the accompanying sleeve notes are really informative.

Highly recommended.