The five Neorealist films to watch

Neorealist cinema is a new strain Italian film-making took shape in the Second World War. I think that Neorealism was born in part of necessity: new directors wanted to show the realty in documentary style giving the lead roles to non-professional actors, with mixed results.


The five Neorealist films to watch:

1. Roma, città aperta (Robert Rossellini) - the film was shot on Roman streets six months after the Nazis left. It told the tense story of partisans fighting Germans. Anna Magnani emerged as Neorealism's leading lady. 

2. Sciuscià􀀃 (Vittorio De Sica) -  the film describes the story of two shoeshine boys, played with impressive subtlety by a couple of untrained actors, come unstuck in unsympathetic post-war

Rome.

3. La terra trema (Luchino Visconti) - Vinsconti describes living conditions in the Sicily, using Sicilian dialect, rendered the lives of poor, exploited fishing folk.

4. Ladri di biciclette􀀃 (Vittorio De Sica) - The film describes  a destitute man and his son scour Roma for the stolen bike on which his job hanging posters depends. Ladri di biciclette has become the most acclaimed of the Neorealist films, combining critical and commercial success.

5. Riso Amaro (Giuseppe De Santis) -The film describes migrant workers in the paddy fields of the Po Valley.