| | | The Criterion Collection|The Criterion Collection.
Features: DVD, Italian, English, Subtitled
In his first collaboration with renowned screenwriter and longtime partner Cesare Zavattini, Vittoria De Sica examines the cataclysmic consequences of adult folly on an innocent child. Heralding the pair's subsequent work on some of the masterpieces of Italian neorealism, The Children Are Watching Us is a deeply humane, vivid portrait of one family's disintegration.
"Must be seen..." The New York Post
"Astonishing..." The New York Times
Editor's Note
This early Neo-realist drama tells the story of a family torn apart by infidelity from the perspective of the family's only son, Prico (Luciano De Ambrosis). Prico, who is five years old, has always been close with his mother, Nina (Isa Pola). When she begins an affair with a young gigolo (Adriano Rimoldi), Prico desperately tries to save his family. However, he soon realizes that his parents' marriage is doomed. Prico's relationship with his mom starts to crumble as well. Just when it seems that things couldn't get any worse, a terrible tragedy strikes.
Plot Summary
THE CHILDREN ARE WATCHING US, based on the novel PRICO by Cesare Giulio Viola, was De Sica's fifth film as a director, but the first worthy of worldwide and historical attention. This story of marital infidelity is witnessed from the perspective of Prico (Luciano De Ambrosis), the five year old son of parents whose marriage is crumbling. Prico is devoted to his mother (Isa Pola), but loses his innocence and sense of security when he discovers that she is having an affair. As his family life crumbles around him, Prico is sent off to a Jesuit Boarding School. At home, his mother's extra-marital affair leads to the suicide of Prico's father (Emilio Cigoli). Precocious Prico blames his mother for orphaning him, and rejects her when she comes to pick him up from the boarding school. The depth of Ambrosis's performance is startling as De Sica takes up a theme that carries through much of his serious work: that of the personal torments which resulted from the moral decay of Italy under the fascists.
| Features | Audio: Italian Dolby Digital Mono | | Booklet Featuring Robert Cardullo And Stuart Klawans On Cesare Zavattini | | Interactive Menus | | New And Improved Subtitle Translation | | New Video Interviews With Luciano De Ambrosis And Cesare Zavattini | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Image |
| Release Date: 3/28/2006 |
| Running Time: 84 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1943 | | Catalog ID: 170 | | UPC: 00037429208021 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: Italian | | Available Audio Tracks: Italian | | Available Subtitles: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Standard 1.33:1 [4:3] |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"...An important footnote to the DeSica career....A sincerely serious film..." 09/12/1986 p.C14New York Times
"The film is an exercise in almost pure pathos, structured as a series of abandonments..." 03/28/2006 p.E3 Swimming to Casablanca 8 of 10
I loved the swimming scene on the Italian Riviera. Prico's mother (Nina) takes him into the crowded water. She holds him while he learns how to swim. A woman and two friends come swimming, too. One of them is holding his small dog. Like Nina he puts his dog in the water to swim while he watches attentively. They seem like snobs towards Nina and Prico. I wonder if De Sica is subtly showing us what the Fascists were really like. Nina is obviously not concerned with politics. It seems to be the last thing on her mind and Prico's. This story is a lot more narrative than De Sica's later neo-realist films, which are more documentary in style mostly using unprofessional actors.
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