Vittorio De Sica
Birthday:
7 July 1901, Sora, Lazio, Italy
Height:
176 cm
Vittorio De Sica grew up in Naples, and started out as an office clerk in order to raise money to support his poor family. He was increasingly drawn towards acting, and made his screen debut while still in his teens, joining a stage company in 1923. By the late 1920s he was a successful matinee idol of the Italian theatre, and repeated that achieve...
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Vittorio De Sica grew up in Naples, and started out as an office clerk in order to raise money to support his poor family. He was increasingly drawn towards acting, and made his screen debut while still in his teens, joining a stage company in 1923. By the late 1920s he was a successful matinee idol of the Italian theatre, and repeated that achievement in Italian movies, mostly light comedies. He turned to directing in 1940, making comedies in a similar vein, but with his fifth film I bambini ci guardano (1944), he revealed hitherto unsuspected depths and an extraordinarily sensitive touch with actors, especially children. It was also the first film he made with the writer Cesare Zavattini with whom he would subsequently make Sciuscià (1946) and Ladri di biciclette (1948), heartbreaking studies of poverty in postwar Italy which won special Oscars before the foreign film category was officially established. After the box-office disaster of Umberto D. (1952), a relentlessly bleak study of the problems of old age, he returned to directing lighter work, appearing in front of the camera more frequently. Although Ieri oggi domani (1963) won him another Oscar, it was generally accepted that his career as one of the great directors was over. However, just before he died he made Il giardino dei Finzi Contini (1970), which won him yet another Oscar, and his final film Una breve vacanza (1973). He died following the removal of a cyst from his lungs. Show less «
"Bicycle Thieves" is a good picture. I like very much. But some concession to sentimentality. A little concession. "Umberto D" never. Nothin...Show more »
"Bicycle Thieves" is a good picture. I like very much. But some concession to sentimentality. A little concession. "Umberto D" never. Nothing. Without compromise. But it was too early. Many pictures of mine this way. Now is a great success. Then, nothing. Oh, a little. The intelligentsia accept "Umberto D." But the audience -- no, nothing. Too early. Too early. Show less «
[on Sophia Loren] I consider Sophia a great -- a good actress and a great personality. Because she is a Neopolitan. Like me. We are the same...Show more »
[on Sophia Loren] I consider Sophia a great -- a good actress and a great personality. Because she is a Neopolitan. Like me. We are the same people, the same origin. And we feel together the same. Yes, for me, I am very happy when I work with Sophia. Show less «
There is no crisis in cinema. There are negative periods. There are times when some films are received well and others aren't. The past teac...Show more »
There is no crisis in cinema. There are negative periods. There are times when some films are received well and others aren't. The past teaches us that some films were received badly, while others go sailing on. There are two films doing very well right now in the Italian market: One is Il gattopardo (1963) ("The Lepoard"), which earns seven million lire a day, and the other is "Il diavolo" ("To Bed or Not to Bed (1964)"), starring (Alberto) Sordi, which earns 3 1/2 million. So there are films that are doing very well. What I notice is that producers have been known to make errors in judgment, which have caused them to be overly daring. For example, I've been told many millions were spent, somewhere around half a billion, for a film entrusted to a young person. We must make room for young people , but with half a billion we could have made eight of Ladri di biciclette (1948) ("The Bicycle Thief"). Experimental cinema should be inexpensive cinema. Half a billion lire should be entrusted to those professionals who we can be sure will bring home the half billion spent. We should be cautious with new initiatives. Producers should be cautious. As for television as a competitor, yes, there I see a danger. Let television do television, let them do documentaries, but cinema as such should be shown on screens, because there's no one more lazy than the public. When people don't have to leave their homes, they're very happy. A film shown in the home encourages the audience not to budge. Show less «
I am basically an unhappy man. Life gives me always the impression of cruelty. I read the newspaper - crimes, murders, divorces, and so on. ...Show more »
I am basically an unhappy man. Life gives me always the impression of cruelty. I read the newspaper - crimes, murders, divorces, and so on. I do not find evidence of sincerity or solidarity there. I love humanity, I trust humanity, but humanity has a way of disillusioning me. The pictures I direct are nearly always melancholy. This comes from the contrast between my love and my disillusion. I am an optimist. I love life. I seek perfection. If my art seems pessimistic, it is a consequence of my continuing optimism and its disillusion. At least I have enthusiasm. It is necessary to all professions to have enthusiasm in order to have success. Show less «
Vittorio De Sica's Photos
Major Alessandro Rinaldi
