Italian Neo-realism is famous for focusing on real life and ordinary people in cinema. In the film called Umberto D. (1952) which is directed by Vittorio De Sica, the touch of reality being inherent in methods of characterization and mise en scène.

When mise en scène happens in existed locations, the actor’s improvise interaction with the environment, builds up the expression of the character’s status quo. As Italian Neo-realism, storytelling is character-driven, it shows the internal struggle within character himself rather than external conflict that cause by obstacle. Even though the old man in Umberto D. was facing the problem of poverty, but the theme of this film is about the dignity of living during a hard time.

The old man named Umberto D. used to be a decent man, it tells from his image of always wearing suit and hat. He has high self-esteem because he is educated, he is different from laborer like the naive maid in the house, or bourgeoisie like the kitsch landlord. Unfortunately, this quality made him being more difficult while he was looking for resolution to his financial crisis. After trying all his effort, he hesitated to become a beggar. The way he ordered his dog to carry the hat, and avoided asking money from strangers, would be how he maintains his lifeway as usual.

At the beginning, the first scene shots the protest on street, then introduces the main character among the crowd. This scene reveals the strait of the old man was actually a social phenomenon. The film puts this issue in public, and points out how society affect individuals, also the old man is being alone, which means he has to carry all these burdens by himself. Meanwhile, his age and fever he got, made him being weak and even helpless.

In the middle, the old man rushed to a yard to search for his dog. This occasion indicates the consequence could happen after the old man being homeless. Dogs that caught from the street, were considered as abandoned, and should be got rid of. A man’s dog would be killed if he couldn’t pay for the fee. When the old man worries about his dog, his concern also evokes the audience’s compassion on him. The feeling of pity surrounds the relationship between the old man and his dog. Their lives are insignificant, but when the old man determines to take care of his dog, they are being valuable to each other.

At the end, the old man and his dog reunite in a park, where is full of joy and vitality. They seem to be alive again, after the old man nearly commits suicide. Somehow, the dog saved the old man’s life, through leading him leave the railway, then it turns out, they couldn’t leave each other. The dog became an important character in the film, also as the symbol that represents fresh life. The dog is so vivid, that makes the kind-hearted old man being highly convincing.

Even though the storytelling of Italian Neo-realism isn’t dramatically plot-driven. But there’s still reason to believe, the script of Umberto D. was well constructed by choosing representative characters and locations. The reality of the main character, reveals the reality of the society. At last, unfortunately, the society couldn’t provide resolution to individuals, and that’s why the film leaves an open ending.

首先，它摒棄對(duì)于傳統(tǒng)電影觀賞性的一切參照。

如果只考慮影片主題，我們可以把它歸結(jié)為具有社會(huì)意圖的民粹主義情節(jié)劇的表象，一篇中產(chǎn)階級(jí)處境的辯護(hù)詞：一名陷入貧困中的退休老人因愛(ài)犬無(wú)人可托付或因狠不下心來(lái)弄死它而放棄自殺念頭。但是，最后這段插曲并不是環(huán)環(huán)相扣的戲劇性事件的感人結(jié)局?？v然“結(jié)構(gòu)”的傳統(tǒng)概念在這里仍有一定意義，但是德?西卡筆下的時(shí)間順序具有自身的必然性，與戲劇性無(wú)關(guān)。溫別爾托?D去醫(yī)院治療良性喉嚨炎、他被女房東趕出大門(mén)和他產(chǎn)生自殺念頭之間究竟有什么因果關(guān)系？

在這部影片中，溫別爾托?D的健康狀況實(shí)際上并不需要住院，醫(yī)院生活更是一段輕松愉快的插曲，遠(yuǎn)不需要我們同情他的遭遇。

貧困對(duì)加深他的絕望有決定性作用，但這只是因?yàn)樨毨伙@出他的孤苦。溫別爾托?D需要少許的幫助，這使寥寥無(wú)幾的親朋也疏遠(yuǎn)了他。如果說(shuō)影片涉及中下階層，那么它也是側(cè)重表現(xiàn)他們的貧困隱私、他們的自私利己和他們的人情涼薄。主人公愈老愈孤獨(dú)：唯一給他些許慰籍的最親近的人就是房東太太的小女仆，但是他的溫柔與善良并不能使她忘掉自己未婚先孕做母親的憂慮。這唯一的友誼無(wú)非又是導(dǎo)致絕望的一個(gè)原因。

從傳統(tǒng)的批評(píng)概念談?wù)撨@部影片。

人物性格的一般發(fā)展和各個(gè)事件的一定聯(lián)系，也只是靠事后領(lǐng)悟。但是，這部影片的敘述單元不是插曲、事件、戲劇性轉(zhuǎn)折和人物性格，它是生活中各個(gè)具體時(shí)刻無(wú)主次輕重之分的串聯(lián)：本體論的平等從根本上打破了戲劇性的范疇。

有一個(gè)精彩的段落，完美展現(xiàn)出這種敘述觀念以及場(chǎng)面調(diào)度觀念，它必將成為電影的佳構(gòu)之一。這是小女仆清早起床的情景，攝影機(jī)只限于觀察她的清晨家務(wù)瑣事：睡眼惺忪，在廚房里轉(zhuǎn)來(lái)轉(zhuǎn)去，淹死闖入洗碗槽的螞蟻，磨咖啡……人們輕易以為電影必然屬于“省略的藝術(shù)”，在這個(gè)片段中，電影完全反其道行之。

省略法是一種邏輯行的因而也是抽象的敘述流程，它以分析和選擇為前提，它按照戲劇性去組織那些必須服從戲劇性的事件。德?西卡與柴瓦梯尼的做法與此恰恰相反，他們竭力把一個(gè)事件分成若干小事件，再進(jìn)一步細(xì)分成小事件，直至我們對(duì)時(shí)間久暫的感覺(jué)達(dá)到極限。

女仆起床

更瑣細(xì)：起床、穿過(guò)走廊、淹死螞蟻等

磨咖啡這樁事又被分成一組各自有起有訖的時(shí)刻，譬如女仆伸出腳用足尖關(guān)門(mén)。攝影機(jī)漸漸移近，跟拍她的腳部動(dòng)作，直至鏡頭對(duì)準(zhǔn)她用腳趾蹬住木門(mén)的動(dòng)作。

……為現(xiàn)實(shí)的漸近線。

摘自《電影是什么？》（有刪減）