Shoeshine

Shoeshine (1946) starring Rinaldo Smerdoni, Franco Interlenghi. Directed by Vittorio De Sica. In poverty-stricken postwar Italy, two young friends try to survive by shining shoes. But the boys also get involved in black-market sales of stolen goods, and end up getting arrested and sent to juvenile detention. Juvenile detention is, of course, a hellhole. The youths are put in different cells, and the authorities manage to turn them against each other. This movie, shot in the Italian style known as neorealism, depicts the difficulty of life in Italy after World War II. The country was devastated and occupied by American military forces. As with much neorealism, this film tends to look at things through the eyes of children. It's an interesting movie, well told and involving. The film is in Italian, with English subtitles that are only adequate. Grade: B+