风烛泪

由《孩子在看着我们》和《擦鞋童》中的孩子，过渡到《偷自行车的人》中的父子俩，再到《温别尔托·D》中的老人，德西卡的新现实主义就是一部战后意大利人的心灵成长史。但其实不管把镜头对准哪一个群体，这些人群反映出来的问题都不是他们所独有的，而是每一个意大利人都要面对的，德西卡通过个体来透视整个社会在现实中的动荡与焦虑。因而虚构的电影比真实的新闻报道具有了更深刻的现实性。

温别尔托无钱付房租卧病在床，要赶他出去的女房东在隔壁载歌载舞自以为高雅，一边是 D冒着虚汗的额头，背景声是隔壁的高歌，所谓“上流社会”的虚假丑恶尽显。高贵的真正意义是对一切人都怀有真挚平等的尊重和爱，德西卡显然是一个。

女仆起床后打扫房间生火做饭伫立窗前的长镜头被巴赞激赏，一个对叙事没有任何帮助的段落，却在酝酿着人们对生活本身的体味，把观众从之前一连串的矛盾事件（女仆怀孕却不知道是谁的，D 无钱交租只好卖掉自己心爱的书，房东树立起庸俗粗鲁专横的形象）所造成的戏剧化情境中传递回现实，让我们的心情得到平复，再来看电影将会如何表现接下来这一天的生活。

德西卡是新现实主义一众当中使用专业演员较多的，故而影片的质感较为厚重，但更突出的还是他指导非专业演员的功力，他片中的非专业演员都能很好地展现与影片相符的气质，显得让人印象深刻。比如本片中的D就是一个大学教授，很好地传达出了知识分子风烛残年四顾无援的面貌，让人们对他所受到的不公待遇由衷慨叹。

“你怎么了，温别尔托先生？”“我累了。”

对话后，他打开窗望向楼下的有轨电车，动了轻生的念头，带上了箱子离开。

德西卡该是以怎样的胆识和勇气，来给这部影片添上一个开放式的结局？这样做无疑是完美地符合新现实主义的特征，但是，别说看过这部影片的人都违背自己对好莱坞套路式的美好结局的反感而希望能给这位老人一个归宿，拍出这部片子的人们如何能不为这样的一个故事动容？——老人实在是太孤独无助了，电影实在是太凄凉悲惨了。

比起怀孕的玛丽亚对未来充满茫然却并不特别害怕的样子，温别尔托每个绝望的眼神都格外揪心。 这个想要体面又无助的老头儿次次犹豫，次次开不了口，在狗狗叼起帽子的时候再也忍不住大哭，相依为命也不知道怎么过下余生，想给弗兰克找个好寄托却放心不下——旁边的狗狂吠，而弗兰克像一个胆小温顺的小孩，带点胆怯地朝温别尔托身后躲去，终究是放心不下，想要把弗兰克送给小孩照顾，却连人带狗一起被嫌弃。最后想要抱着弗兰克一起去死而失去弗兰克的信任。 末尾处一人一狗嬉笑着消失在人群远处，好担心他们并不明朗的未来。 温别尔托离开时叮嘱玛丽亚“罗马有很多工作”“离开那个佛洛伦萨”，眼神中带着茫然，更多是天真的玛利亚点头说好，并期待着可以时常见面。而温别尔托那时候已经带上了赴死的决定——都是底层的小人物，一脸茫然地面对未知的悲惨命运。 好难过，我曾经想过将来碰不到特别喜欢的人，不结婚一个人过也挺好的，现在却非常恐慌，害怕生离死别，害怕孤苦终老，老无所依。

Umberto D, a film with a rating of 8.6 on Chinese media platforms (Douban), is an Italian film from 1952 that less than 10,000 people in China have marked as having seen today. Among the more than 2,500 reviews, the most frequent comment is "De Sica's neo-realism", in which users say they see a tragic old man in an indifferent, chaotic, and turbulent society under De Sica's lens. By placing the old man and the dog in the context of a troubled society, De Sica has created a conflicting cinematic environment where the drama is based on real life. Also frequent is the 'reflection on the dignity of the poor', with many users referring to the sequence in which the old man is forced to beg in the street, and they generally see the old man as a representative of dignity who, despite living at the bottom of the social ladder, receiving a meager pension and living in a precarious home, is not overwhelmed by life. The film conveys a story about the character's choice between survival and dignity, a constant struggle to do so but no choice at all. Users responding to the end of the film are mapped onto themselves and begin to think about their own lives in old age in light of the old man's end. The suffering of the elderly, close to home.

Under De Sica's gaze, Umberto's character is realistic but contradictory. Not only is there a compassionate and tragic side to him, but there is also a prickliness about reality and active isolation from the world. At the beginning of the film, when the police break up the parade, he reacts by accusing the organizers of not having permission. He is socially isolated, but this seems to be by his own choice. (Loughlin & O'Keeffe, 2019). He rarely interacts actively with people within the social structure, which means that he rarely relates to others and he is idiosyncratic. No one in the film stops him from doing what he does or forces him to do it. The only thing he has to fight against is the harsh, cold reality and society. De Sica's realistic portrayal of post-World War II Italy rips open the scars of the country's past and its reluctance to talk about it. His simple, heartfelt language burns the fires of neo-realism in the ruins. Based on reality, the drama is driven by a civilian approach and shot in realistic locations. The real houses and streets show the beauty and brutality of reality, recreating the Italian social environment and the real life of the people of the time.

The relationship between the old man and the dog is one of the most visceral and complex in the film, and De Sica chooses to place no other character beside Umberto but the dog. The two cross-species but depend on each other, sympathise and rely on each other. In a miserable, troubled society, and in the face of a tyrannical human population, the dog becomes a dependable, credible support and companion; in fact, in many films, the presence of a dog makes the film more complete and enhances its content. Dogs are easier to get along with compared to other animals. It is easier to convey character traits due to the higher degree of personification (Chodosh, 2018). The dog becomes a source of joy for Umberto also becomes his spiritual support. When Umberto decided to go to the hospital to obtain clean sheets and tasty meals for a few days, he arranged for the maid to look after the dog. When he finds the dog slipping out, the film shows a sequence where he looks for Flag at the dog shelter and sees how the abandoned dog is put to death. He searches helplessly for Flag amidst the barking dogs. he needs the dogs and they need him. It is also the thought of giving the dog to a good home when Umberto gives up his life and self-respect and chooses to commit suicide. The relationship between the old man and the dog is not only one of dependence in a chaotic world, but also the meeting and redemption of two similar souls. The old man and the dog are constantly being separated and reunited. Whereas each separation is Umberto's escape from reality, the meeting of the two characters is a mutual redemption. The dog finds him when the old man gives the dog away and chooses to commit suicide himself. It is also the dog who stops the old man when he is holding the dog with the intention of dying together. The presence of the dog in the film somehow avoids sentimental character relationships and gives a purer, more profound feeling.

Bazin once said of De Sica: "Someone keeps reality like a bird in a cage and teaches it to talk, while De Sica talks to it at length." There are no dramatic scenes of sudden conflict, no bursts of full-bodied emotional dialogue in Umberto d. Those meticulous, painstaking records of life are a simple but poignant picture. The Chinese translation of the film's title is three words: fengzhulei, and the whole film has the despondency of a wind-blown candle, the wind blowing out the broken candle, and when it is lit again, one person and a dog are found.

Living is not a choice, you just have to live.

Chodosh, C. (2018). Good Boy: Canine Representation in Cinema. Momentum, 5(1), 4.

Loughlin, E., & O’Keeffe, S. T. (2019). One man and his dog: Umberto D. European Geriatric Medicine, 10(4), 673-674.

Italian Neo-realism is famous for focusing on real life and ordinary people in cinema. In the film called Umberto D. (1952) which is directed by Vittorio De Sica, the touch of reality being inherent in methods of characterization and mise en scène.

When mise en scène happens in existed locations, the actor’s improvise interaction with the environment, builds up the expression of the character’s status quo. As Italian Neo-realism, storytelling is character-driven, it shows the internal struggle within character himself rather than external conflict that cause by obstacle. Even though the old man in Umberto D. was facing the problem of poverty, but the theme of this film is about the dignity of living during a hard time.

The old man named Umberto D. used to be a decent man, it tells from his image of always wearing suit and hat. He has high self-esteem because he is educated, he is different from laborer like the naive maid in the house, or bourgeoisie like the kitsch landlord. Unfortunately, this quality made him being more difficult while he was looking for resolution to his financial crisis. After trying all his effort, he hesitated to become a beggar. The way he ordered his dog to carry the hat, and avoided asking money from strangers, would be how he maintains his lifeway as usual.

At the beginning, the first scene shots the protest on street, then introduces the main character among the crowd. This scene reveals the strait of the old man was actually a social phenomenon. The film puts this issue in public, and points out how society affect individuals, also the old man is being alone, which means he has to carry all these burdens by himself. Meanwhile, his age and fever he got, made him being weak and even helpless.

In the middle, the old man rushed to a yard to search for his dog. This occasion indicates the consequence could happen after the old man being homeless. Dogs that caught from the street, were considered as abandoned, and should be got rid of. A man’s dog would be killed if he couldn’t pay for the fee. When the old man worries about his dog, his concern also evokes the audience’s compassion on him. The feeling of pity surrounds the relationship between the old man and his dog. Their lives are insignificant, but when the old man determines to take care of his dog, they are being valuable to each other.

At the end, the old man and his dog reunite in a park, where is full of joy and vitality. They seem to be alive again, after the old man nearly commits suicide. Somehow, the dog saved the old man’s life, through leading him leave the railway, then it turns out, they couldn’t leave each other. The dog became an important character in the film, also as the symbol that represents fresh life. The dog is so vivid, that makes the kind-hearted old man being highly convincing.

Even though the storytelling of Italian Neo-realism isn’t dramatically plot-driven. But there’s still reason to believe, the script of Umberto D. was well constructed by choosing representative characters and locations. The reality of the main character, reveals the reality of the society. At last, unfortunately, the society couldn’t provide resolution to individuals, and that’s why the film leaves an open ending.