Miracle in Milan
Encyclopedia
Miracle in Milan is a 1951
1951 in film
The year 1951 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...

 Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 film directed by Vittorio de Sica
Vittorio de Sica
Vittorio De Sica was an Italian director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement....

. The screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...

 was co-written by Cesare Zavattini
Cesare Zavattini
Cesare Zavattini was an Italian screenwriter and one of the first theorists and proponents of the Neorealist movement in Italian cinema.-Brief biography:...

, based on his novel Totò il Buono. The picture stars Francesco Golisano, Emma Gramatica, Francesco Golisano, Paolo Stoppa, and Guglielmo Barnabò.

The film, told as a neo-realist
Neorealism (art)
In art, neorealism was established by the ex-Camden Town Group painters Charles Ginner and Harold Gilman at the beginning of World War I. They set out to explore the spirit of their age through the shapes and colours of daily life...

 fable
Fable
A fable is a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized , and that illustrates a moral lesson , which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim.A fable differs from...

, explains the lives of a poverty-stricken group in post-war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

Plot

This fantasy tale tells of Totò who, found in a cabbage patch, is adopted by Lolotta, a wise and kind old woman. When Lolotta dies he moves to an orphanage
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...

. At eighteen Totò (Francesco Golisano) leaves the orphanage and ends up in a shantytown squatter colony on the outskirts of Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

.

Totò's organizational ability learned at the orphanage and his simple kindness and optimistic outlook acquired from Lolotta bring structure to the colony and a sense of happiness and well being among the dispossessed who live there.

Totò is given a magic dove
Dove
Pigeons and doves constitute the bird family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerines. In general terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably...

 by the ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...

 of Lolotta and he uses its powers to grant wishes to those who ask. Eventually the dove is taken back by two angels who object to a mortal using its magic powers.

When oil is found in the shantytown capitalists acquire it and the squatters are taken away ostensibly to prison. On the way, however, the dove is returned to Totò and his wish for the freedom of his friends is granted. In a wonderful scene they fly away on broomsticks borrowed from the street sweepers in Milan's central square and circle around the Cathedral and then away into the sky, possibly to heaven.

In a sense Totò is a Christ-like figure whose innate goodness and miraculous powers are corrupted by the human failings of the dispossessed, especially their simple-minded greed for clothes and money.

Cast

  • Emma Gramatica
    Emma Gramatica
    Emma Gramatica , was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 29 films between 1919 and 1962.She was born in Borgo San Donnino, today Fidenza, Province of Parma and died in Ostia.-Selected filmography:...

     as La vecchia Lolotta
  • Francesco Golisano as Totò
  • Paolo Stoppa
    Paolo Stoppa
    Paolo Stoppa was an Italian actor and dubber.Born in Rome, he began as a stage actor in 1927 in the theater in Rome and began acting in films in 1932...

     as Rappi
  • Guglielmo Barnabò
    Guglielmo Barnabò
    Guglielmo Barnabò was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 99 films between 1926 and 1954.He was born and died in Ancona, Italy.-Selected filmography:* Beauty of the World * Bad Subject...

     as Mobbi
  • Brunella Bovo as Edvige
  • Anna Carena as Marta, la signora altezzosa
  • Alba Arnova as La statua che prende vita
  • Flora Cambi as L'innamorata infelice
  • Virgilio Riento as Il sergente delle guardie
  • Arturo Bragaglia as Alfredo
  • Erminio Spalla as Gaetano
  • Riccardo Bertazzolo as L'atleta
  • Checco Rissone as Il comandante in secondo
  • Angelo Prioli as Il comandante in primo
  • Gianni Branduani as Totò at eleven years

Production

Vittorio De Sica wrote that he made the film in order to show how the "common man" can exist given the realities of life: "It is true that my people have already attained happiness after their own fashion; precisely because they are destitute, these people still feel - as the majority of ordinary men perhaps no longer do - the living warmth of a ray of winter sunshine, the simple poetry of the wind. They greet water with the same pure joy as Saint Francis did."

The Milan Cathedral serves as a focal location in the film, and can also be viewed as symbolic of the miracle to which the film's title refers.

American special effects specialist Ned Mann was hired for the film. The picture would be Mann's final project. Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio de Sica
Vittorio De Sica was an Italian director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement....

, in neo-realist
Neorealism (art)
In art, neorealism was established by the ex-Camden Town Group painters Charles Ginner and Harold Gilman at the beginning of World War I. They set out to explore the spirit of their age through the shapes and colours of daily life...

 fashion, used both professional and non-professional actors.

Critical response

The film premiered in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 on February 8, 1951. Later it was presented at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...

 in April, 1951. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 it opened wide on December 17, 1951.

Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...

, film critic for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, liked the film and wrote, "The rich vein of sly, compassionate humor that Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...

 and René Clair
René Clair
René Clair born René-Lucien Chomette, was a French filmmaker.-Biography:He was born in Paris and grew up in the Les Halles quarter. He attended the Lycée Montaigne and the Lycée Louis-le-Grand. During World War I, he served as an ambulance driver. After the war, he started a career as a journalist...

 used to mine with unparalleled genius when they were turning out their best satiric films, has been tapped by Vittorio De Sica in his Miracle in Milan, the widely proclaimed Italian picture that arrived at the World yesterday. And although this uncommon vein of fancy is a way from De Sica's previous line, the great director has brought up from his digging a liberal return of purest gold."

The staff at Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...

magazine gave the film a positive review and wrote, "The sharp satire on the oil-greedy industrialist is handled in a broader, perhaps exaggerated manner, and pic is liberally sprinkled with intelligent humor, much of it ironic. Performances by pros and tyros alike are flawless."

Awards

Wins
  • 1951 Cannes Film Festival
    1951 Cannes Film Festival
    The 4th Cannes Film Festival was held on 3-20 April 1951. The festival was not held in 1950.-Jury:*André Maurois *Georges Bidault *Louis Chauvet *A...

    : Grand Prize of the Festival
    Palme d'Or
    The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...

    , Vittorio De Sica; 1951.
  • Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists: Silver Ribbon; Best Production Design, Guido Fiorini; 1951.
  • New York Film Critics Circle Awards
    New York Film Critics Circle Awards
    New York Film Critics' Circle Awards are given annually to honor excellence in cinema worldwide by an organization of film reviewers from New York City-based publications. It is considered one of the most important precursors to the Academy Awards....

    : NYFCC Award; Best Foreign Language Film, Italy; 1951.
  • National Board of Review: National Board of Review Awards 1951
    National Board of Review Awards 1951
    - Top Ten Films :#A Place in the Sun#The Red Badge of Courage#An American in Paris#Death of a Salesman#Detective Story#A Streetcar Named Desire#Decision Before Dawn#Strangers on a Train#Quo Vadis#Fourteen Hours...

    , Best Foreign Films; 1951.


Nominations
  • British Academy of Film and Television Arts
    British Academy of Film and Television Arts
    The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...

    : BAFTA Film Award
    BAFTA Award for Best Film
    This page lists the winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Film, BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language and Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film for each year, in addition to the retired earlier versions of those awards...

    , Best Film from any Source, Italy; Best Foreign Actor, Francesco Golisano, Italy; 1952.

External links

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