The Children Are Watching Us

In typical De Sica fashion, it ends on a rather cynical note (and it has this dismal undercurrent throughout), but its bleak and honest message is unfortunately obscured and smothered by the rather schmaltzy acting and uneven script. De Sica is widely recognized as of the leading filmmakers that broke through 'filmic norms', so to speak, by hiring non-professional actors as a way to convey a level of authenticity and realness that are often indistinct in most other films. Especially those that deal with the ideas of economic hardship, a collapse in social order, and the dilapidation of post-WWII Europe. It worked impeccably in "Bicycle Thieves" and "Umberto. D", two of De Sica's most prominent work, but ultimately failed here.