Umberto D.

Saw Umberto D. It was a sad little story about a retired man who is struggling to pay his land-lord in the ultra-hostile Italy of the neo-realists. This movie was the first in a while to frustrate me with its genuine lack of closure. I don't want to give away the ending, but the climactic, unresolved question (I feel) is whether this man will be alright or not. We hope the best for him, but he ultimately has less stability than ever and nowhere to go. The most compelling insight I was able to glean was that a person can be stronger if something is depending on them. Sometimes to make people strong, they must be forced to be strong.

The movie isn't as miserable as, say, The Bicycle Thief (to say nothing of the likes of Dancer in the Dark) but it's certainly grim and has an oppressive atmosphere. The visit to the dog-pound is particularly worrying.