Shoeshine

When Vittorio de Sica's "Shoeshine" was first released in the U.S., in 1947, it created a sensation with its neorealist presentation of squalor and despair in postwar Italy. Its impact was felt all the way up to the Academy Awards, which paid tribute to the production by creating an honorary Oscar category honoring foreign-language films (this later became a regular Oscar category).

Today, however, "Shoeshine" does not resonate as strongly. In many ways, it is de Sica's fault: the artistic impact created by "Shoeshine" and other Italian neorealist productions dramatically changed the cinematic style, and the ensuing years witnessed a skein of films that became more gutsy and visceral in their depiction of social injustice.

By contemporary standards, the film's portrait of two youths victimized by a corrupt juvenile detention system often feels mannered and melodramatic. De Sica worked with young nonprofessionals as his core cast, but many of the performances are weak and stale. Even the film's central setting - a rundown juvenile prison - looks a bit too clean and stagy, and an escape sequence feels like it was lifted from a bad B-movie.

But if the emotional soul of "Shoeshine" feels weak today, the film's value in cinema history cannot be understated. De Sica offered a harsh view of the poverty and near-anarchy of postwar Italy. U.S. soldiers are a ubiquitous street presence, though they seem to have nothing to do except pay kids for shoeshines and pass off U.S.-made goods to desperate Italians.

Unlike the stylishly cynical film noir productions that dominated postwar Hollywood, "Shoeshine" is raw and honest in its view of the downtrodden, especially the children who were easily exploited during this period.

If "Shoeshine" does not truly stand the test of time, it nonetheless deserves to be seen as an important historic record of its time.

"Shoeshine"
DVD $29.98
87 minutes
eOne Entertainment