DE SICA AND ZAVATTINI.. DIRECTOR & WRITER DUO OF NEOREALIST CINEMA!

Today is Death Anniversary of Italian Actor-Director Vittorio De Sica and last month on same date was Death Anniversary of  Italian Screenwriter & Theorist Cesare Zavattini..great pioneers of Neo-Realist Cinema!

Important turning point came in Vittorio De Sica's film career when he met writer Cesare Zavattini. De Sica directed great Neo-realist films on the scripts wrote by Zavattini. In these first was 'Sciuscia' ('Shoeshine'/1946)..focus on the life of slum children through the struggle of two shoeshine boys. And another was 'Ladri di biciclette' (1948) famous 'Bicycle Thieves'..which follows the story of a poor man with his little son..in search of their bicycle which is stolen & the man needs it for job!

Both the films received honorary 'Oscar' awards! These influenced to the filmmakers in the world. In our India..Bimal Roy's film 'Do Bigha Zameen' (1953) was inspired from 'Bicycle Thieves'. And Raj Kapoor's film 'Boot Polish' (1954) was based on 'Shoeshine'!

After that, De Sica made notable films on the unique screenplays written by Zavattini. These includes 'Umberto D' (1952) and 'Two Women' (1961) in which famous Italian actress Sophia Loren acted superbly & won 'Best Actress Oscar' award!

I admire their Neo-realist Cinema which completed 75 years!
Homage to them!!

- Manoj Kulkarni