The Film:
Vittorio De Sico is probably best known for his 1948 film Bicycle Thieves (or Ladri di biciclette), yet it was for his direction on Miracle In Milan that he won what is probably the most coveted film award (after an Academy Award). That's right, he won the Grand Prize of the Jury Award during the 1951 Cannes film festival in France. Not only did he direct the film but he also had a hand in writing the screenplay, based on the novel Toto Il Buono by Cesare Zavattini as well as being the films only producer.
The film starts with an old lady out in the garden tending to her cabbage patch when she discovers a young baby boy, seemingly abandoned. She looks after him, teaching him to do good (as well as the times table) until he reaches the tender age of eight and she unfortunately dies. The young boy, Toto (Francesco Golisano - Un Ladro in paradiso) soon grows up and must leave the orphanage where he has been living for the past few years. As he leaves the orphanage he goes to watch some rich people leave a theatre and claps, however whilst he is doing this, an old man named Rappi (Paolo Stoppa - The Belle Of Rome, Love Is A Day's Work) steals Toto's bag. Toto follows him and eventually catches up with him telling the old man that he has his bag. The old man says sorry and starts to cry against a fence. Toto asks what is wrong and Rappi tells him he didn't want what was in the bag but the bag itself as it was very nice. Toto, the do-gooder who can see no fault in anyone, empties his bag and gives it to Rappi who eventually invites Toto to stay at his shack for the night. After seeing the devastation the wind does to the small shanty town, he inspires all the homeless to work together and build new homes for themselves and other unfortunates. Soon enough a rich oil reserve is discovered on the land and mean and greedy landowner Mobbi (Guglielmo Barnabo - Sunday Heroes, Bread Love And Dreams) tries to evict them from the land. However, the old lady who looked after Toto during his earlier years shows up as an angel and gives him a magic dove which has unique powers do that the shanty town can stay around.
Miracle In Milan is an excellent film, and certainly worthy of it's awards which extend far past the Cannes Festival. The direction is brilliant and the acting is wonderful and it was showing Francesco Golisano as talent for the future. Unfortunately though, Golisano died at the age of 29 in a car accident so his film resume was small, yet I have been left intrigued to try and find some of his other films. All in all, the film is just off of a perfect score, and is a definate must for any film collection.
The DVD:
Video:
Arrow Films have done a great job with the picture presenting it in a the OAR academy ratio of 4:3. Sure, there are scratches visible during some scenes as well as minor grain and other minor damage, but for a good 90-95% of the time, the picture is nothing short of excellent. We must remember that this is an old film, and this is one of the best transfers I've had the pleasure of seeing for a film that wasn't owned by a huge American studio for it's time. Thankfully, unlike some of the Chabrol discs from Arrow, the English subtitles are optional. They are easy to read but there is a three minute sequence including Mobbi where there are no subtitles presnt, spoiling it slightly.
Audio:
Only one audio track to report of and it is the original Dolby Digital 2.0 Dual Mono track in Italian. The track is above average and is consistent with sound levels and as it is a dialogue driven film, doesn't need a remixed 5.1 track as it would simply spoil it. A 2.0 Surround track could've been interesting but this track is all you need, despite the occasional crackle.
Extras:
Miracle In Milan Premiere newsreel footage - This short feature shows us footage originally shown on Italian news of the premiere along with a short interview segment with director Vittorio De Sica.
Interview with Manuel De Sica - In this interview with Vittorio De Sica's son, we learn more about the context of the film as well as the filming of it and it's critical success.
Interview with Brunella Bovo - Similar to the interview with Manuel De Sica, this interview tells us about the making of the film as well as what happened on set. Brunello Bovo played Edvide in the film.
Poster Artwork and Lobby Stills - Your basic image gallery with images that were used for the posters and lobby cards.
Theatrical Trailer - Just your regular trailer used to advertise the film.
