This is perhaps the one of Vittorio de Sica's films that contains the most and greatest poetry. Everything here is poetic, the main character himself being something of an angel, the tramps of the ramshackle slum with their very peculiar lives of their own, just their way of celebrating the sunshine and keeping warm when it shines through the smog, and even the way the industrial tycoons are treated, they want to tear down the miserable ramshackle slum of the tramps, but it's not that easy, since our friend the orphan has mysterious friends and contacts on the other side, and his optimism proves not just incurable but even invincible. This film must have meant a lot to Fellini, for many scenes here remind you of later great scenes of Fellini's, and most of all the touch of intimacy with those worst off in society. At the same time this is a great comedy, and there are constant hilarious surprises all the way, culminating in the glorious finale around the cathedral - whoever could have expected such a magnificent crowning triumph of such a hopeless case?
Review of Miracle in Milan
