Shoeshine (1946)

Vittorio De Sica's film was one of the first landmarks of what would become known as Italian neo-realism. The film takes the point of view of two street boys and best friends, Giuseppe and Pasquale. The two of them will do anything from shoeshining to black market deals to make enough money to buy a horse. When they finally do buy the horse and ride it together through town, one feels a brief moment of elation for the boys. But this is not a happy film. Soon they get implicated for one of their shadier deals and sent to a brutal, boys house of detention where they are separated in different cells. Every environment in which they find themselves from the streets to the prison are harsh and unforgiving. Ultimately, they find themselves betraying each other which leads to a tragic finale. As all neo-realist films are, it is first of all humane and socially conscious. The films focus is on the external factors of post war Italy that has led to the poverty, despair, and hopelessness of these two innocent boys. It's an excellent film, though I may still prefer Bunuel's similarly themed Los Olvidados. As can be expected, the filmmaking is spare and the actors non-professionals, leading to an authenticity almost never found in today's cinematic climate. And for his first major film, De Sica, who is usual the most sentimental of the neo-realists, finds an uncompromisingly tragic, though still lyrical tone for the film.