Il Boom
Vittorio De Sica
StudioCanal
Those familiar with Vittorio De Sica鈥檚 work through Italian neorealist classics such as Bicycle Thieves and Umberto D are in for a surprise with the surreal comedy Il Boom, re-released on DVD in April to mark its 50th anniversary.
Set during Italy鈥檚 post-war economic boom, it鈥檚 the story of Giovanni (Alberto Sordi), a man deep in debt struggling to keep up with the extravagant lifestyles of those around him and to maintain his wife鈥檚 pampered existence. Things take a distinctly non-comedic turn, as he briefly contemplates the escape route of suicide, but help arrives in the oddest of forms: a wealthy man willing to part with millions for a human eye.
The juxtaposition of such a serious, and at times dark, story with the kind of jaunty soundtrack that might have accompanied a Chaplin comedy and some exaggerated, almost pantomimic acting is an unusual one to say the least. Somehow, though, it works, standing ultimately as a departure that will amuse and intrigue fans of the more sombre strain of De Sica鈥檚 filmmaking.
Grace Henderson