Monday, November 17, 2008

Umberto D

I'm not sure how to feel about this film, it was very good and I enjoyed watching it thoroughly, however I'm still conflicted. And this confliction has only one source, I don't know how the movie ended, I sat there and watched the ending... and still have no fucking clue what the point was. The only way I can conceptualize my frustration is as such, imagine your favorite movie or story in your head, don't close your eyes it will only slow you down and I want you to keep up with me for this one. Now imagine there are ten points of reference or plot points or whatever you want going through out the story from start to finish, 0-9 that's your movie (and no it can't be 1-10 cause this is my thought process so it follows my rules) movie starts that's 0 and progress on thru then you reach 9 and the credits roll, even in an open ended movie there is enough plot elements that make it to 9 that it works as a story. Follow so far, if not go ahead a reread the past few sentences till you're caught up, seriously do it I'll wait......... All set, ok good. Now here is where Umberto D and I have some issues, if this point 9 were say a finish line and the rest of the movie is a race then the path race takes will define where finish line goes, this is especially true when the path is straight or in this case when the story is very linear in its progression. So the audience gets an idea as to where the finish line will be, but they stay to watch the race. Well in movies with a twist the take advantage of this, so that when you get to the "end" of the race its revealed that the finish line is actually around the corner but then this newly realized and relocated 9. Well Umberto D does this but when you reach where the finish line should be it reveals there is another corner and around this corner they drop base ten counting systems for hex but still stop on a nine, so you get a race with no end.

Now I know that this explanation is difficult to follow and that I don't cite the movie, but seeing as it is the end of the film I choose to not actually reveal the ending but rather how I feel, so as to not ruin it for any one who has not seen the movie. However my idiocy aside the acting was very good, and the lighting had an appearance of technical proficiency not particularly common to the genre. I also happen to be particularly fond of the opening sequence where the police are chasing off the protesters, with the camera mounted in the jeeps it gave the appearance of herding livestock. As I said, ending aside, I really enjoyed this movie and I sorry that I didn't catch the showing with the speaker but just being able to see the film was a treat.

2 comments:

Joana said...

Hey Nick!

I did not see this film yet, but from your comments, I guess I really have to be prepare for a disillusioning ending. I guess that this is the case with all Neorealist films, they just leave you hanging because life always leaves you hanging and you never know what is going to happen next. That is why is so hard to watch this genre, because no matter how you analyze it, it is open to many interpretations and in order to do that you need an open ending.

Barbarian_Antho said...

yeah that true, but at least the other neorealist flicks I've seen offer some measure of closure, I came away from this movie feeling none