Forever deified in the cinematic realm for BICYCLE THIEVES (1948), the ne plus ultra of Neorealismo, Vittorio De Sica progressively marries a well-orchestrated magical conceit with the veridical framework in its follow-up, MIRACLE IN MILAN, sharing Canne's top honors with Alf Sjöberg's MISS JULIE (1951). The story, based on Cesare Zavattini's novel, is prominent for its surreal flight that is grandly actualized by the deceitful filmic technologies, some of which now ineluctably look its age, like rear projections, matte constructions and dodgy superimpositions (the special effect is conjured up by Tinseltown specialist Ned Mann).
Nonetheless, MIRACLE IN MILAN itself evokes a miraculous feeling of hilarity and optimism, despite that it actually depicts the deprivation in the fallout of WWII. Our protagonist Totò is a foundling raised by the elderly Lolotta (Gramatica), after bereavement and his orphanage days, a grownup Totò (Golisano, kit out in down-to-earth sincerity and angelic innocence that very likely would inspire Alice Rohrwacher's HAPPY AS LAZZARO, 2018) become a leader figure in a shantytown located in the outskirt of Milan. When oil is discovered in the turf, the paupers dwelling there are impelled to vacate the place by the police force, that is when magic elements interpolate the narrative, Totò is bestowed a magical dove by Lolotta's blithe spirit, using which he thwarts many a police invasion, and subsequently is deemed as a godlike being by the have-nots,including his sweetheart Edvigo (Bovo, a delectable ingénue).
While jocosity continues dominating the latter half since the police siege starts, De Sica doesn't skirt over the issues among the tramps, like avarice, racial concern (two pigmentation-altering wishes do not bring a pair together) and religiosity, engendered as the corollaries of Totò's munificent wish-granting, the undersides are also amplified by the presence of a selfish snitch Rappi (Stoppa sets out his stall with copious ammo of pettiness and mean-spiritedness). Meantime, De Sica's sardonic denunciation of the capitalist in the person of Mobbi, the landowner (Barnabò), is plumb on point.
As a fantasy, MIRACLE IN MILAN turns out to be a keystone in Italian cinema that injects a surreal vein into its realism fecundity which would obviously influence Fellini's later works. But as whimsically gratifying and delightfully entrancing as the story goes, and the euphonious accompaniment of Cicognini's insistently brisk incident music, as Yours Truly sees it, what De Sica truly manifests his greatness is an immaculate sense of space (Milan's cavernous street-view, the vast snow land, etc.) and alchemical artistic expressions (the huddled mass under a ray of sunshine, and the sunset beholding ceremony, etc.), and most of all, humanism goes a long way, even just for the sake of grassroots escapism, that's where lies the mass appeal of De Scia's works.
referential entries: De Sica's THE ROOF (1956, 7.5/10), BICYCLE THIEVES (1948, 8.8/10); Alice Rohrwacher's HAPPY AS LAZZARO (2018, 8.5/10).
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