Miracolo a Milano (1951) This
film won the Golden Duck Award at the 4th Cannes Film Festival in 1951. The Golden Duck Award is the predecessor of the Palme d’Or.
The film tells the happy life in the slums of Milan. The protagonist is an orphan, he was adopted by an old woman. When the actor was a teenager, the old woman died and he was sent to an orphanage. The protagonist left the orphanage when he was an adult, and he was stolen with his bag on the bustling street that day. The protagonist catches up with the pickpocket, asks for the contents of the bag, and gives the bag to the pickpocket. In this way, the actor and the pickpocket became friends, and they came to the slums together. Life in the slums is very hard and there is little sunshine, but these wanderers have gradually established their homes under the leadership of the male protagonist. More and more people came to the slums, and the hero met a pretty girl from the newcomers. At this time, the two rich men wanted to trade the land in the slums, and the rich man who bought the house saw that the homeless people were crowded, and stopped because of fear. The wanderers dug water wells, and oil wells appeared afterwards. So, one of the wanderers told the rich man who bought the house about the discovery of oil, and he got a beautiful coat and hat. Subsequently, the tycoon asked his subordinates to lead the police to prepare to drive away all the wanderers. The actor wants to talk to Monopoly, and brings some people to Monopoly's company. The tycoon welcomed them politely, but actually held them back. When the heroes returned to the slum, they found that many people were about to leave, and the hero stopped all this. As a result, the homeless and the police started a confrontation. At this time, the mother in heaven gave the hero a white dove, this white dove can let the hero do whatever he wants. In this way, the protagonist repelled the police with a white pigeon, and fulfilled the wishes of many people in the slum, and won the favor of the pretty girls. The angel of heaven then brought the white dove back to heaven, and the tramps were arrested. Finally, the mother gave the white dove to the actor again, and the actor led everyone to the sky on a broomstick in the city center.
This film is a surrealist neo-realist film. Isn't it pretty circumspect? In fact, this film is a film that uses illusion and fantasy to reflect reality, and it conforms to the style of Italian neo-realism movies in that period. To put it bluntly, this film is just another film that shows the lives of ordinary people, showing the status quo of the bottom of Italian society and exposing the contradictions of different Italian classes in that era. All in all, the theme of the movie is not particularly novel, and it is very similar to another masterpiece by the director Vittorio De Sica, "The Bike Thief", so this film makes me not interested.
That being the case, I won’t say much about the subject. It’s nothing more than how the poor people at the bottom struggle in poverty, how the rich and rich earn more profits, and the irreconcilable contradiction between the rich and the poor-the distribution of benefits. These are very obvious in the film, so I won't elaborate on them one by one. In short, through the film, we can feel that although the poor in Italian cities are poor, they live happily and entertain themselves; the rich are domineering, relying on their wealth to seek more benefits, and In their eyes, the poor are hardly regarded as human beings.
The uniqueness of the film lies in the way of expression, which uses magical methods to change the living conditions of the homeless. A mother flies down from heaven, and then gives the hero a dove that can do whatever he wants. The hero uses this dove from heaven to change the reality of life. As a film in the 1950s, this idea is very trendy, just like Hollywood's "How Beautiful Life is" in the 1940s. However, this also shows the helplessness of the choreographer. They can only use fantasy methods to change the misfortune in real life, which is kind of daydreaming. Of course, the directors are just ordinary people. They are powerless to change reality. Movies are just a way to express their emotions.
The film is still very funny. The most interesting thing is the quarrel between the two rich men. The two people quarreled and turned into dogs barking at each other. This kind of irony is so talented. Other plots in the film also make people laugh, such as the old man who is too hungry to be carried by balloons, the old man who thinks he is short, the man who brings his own chair to watch the sunrise, and the fortune teller who has only one set of rhetoric. From these we can see the humor and talent of the director, but these are rare in a film that reflects reality, and we can see the difference in this film.
Movies still have some shortcomings. The most obvious is the lack of clear characterization, especially the male protagonist. Why does the leading actor be kind to others? The movie never explained it. Also, what is the source of life for the homeless, is it work? Or begging? Looking at the many wanderers in the film, these questions always linger in my mind, which shows that this is the biggest failure of the film. The choreographer can't just imagine a good life, but abandon the ins and outs of the characters. Therefore, although the film won the Golden Duck Award, it is far from the director's other work "The Bike Stealer".
Because the film is old and it's an Italian film, the actors won't talk about it. In fact, it's not that I don't want to write, but they have too little information and poor photos. Hey, why are the materials of English movies always so rich?
in conclusion. This is a magical movie with a cliché theme but a novel expression. However, because of the age of the movie, there is no outstanding feature that can impress me now, even if it won the Golden Duck Award.
Serial:
0776 Miracolo.a.Milano.1951.720p.BluRay.x264-.Codres
2012-04-10
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