Miracle in Milan
Renowned filmmaker Vittorio De Sica followed up his international triumph Bicycle Thieves with this enchantingly playful neorealist fairy tale, in which he combines his celebrated slice-of-life poetry with flights of graceful comedy and storybook fantasy. On the outskirts of Milan, a band of vagabonds work together to form a shantytown. When it is discovered that the land they occupy contains oil, however, it’s up to the cherubic orphan Totò (Francesco Golisano)—with some divine help—to save their community from greedy developers. Tipping their hats to the imaginative whimsy of Charles Chaplin and René Clair, De Sica and screenwriter Cesare Zavattini, adapting his own novel, craft a bighearted ode to the nobility of everyday people.
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- New interview with neorealism expert and film scholar David Forgacs
- Audio interview from the late 1960s in which director Vittorio De Sica looks back on his career, conducted by film critic Gideon Bachmann
- Interviews with actor Brunella Bovo and Manuel De Sica, the director’s son
- Feature-length documentary from 2019 on screenwriter Cesare Zavattini
- Trailers
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Christina Newland and “Totò il buono,” a 1940 treatment by Zavattini that is the earliest version of the story on which Miracle in Milan is based
New cover by Manule Fior
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- New interview with neorealism expert and film scholar David Forgacs
- Audio interview from the late 1960s in which director Vittorio De Sica looks back on his career, conducted by film critic Gideon Bachmann
- Interviews with actor Brunella Bovo and Manuel De Sica, the director’s son
- Feature-length documentary from 2019 on screenwriter Cesare Zavattini
- Trailers
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Christina Newland and “Totò il buono,” a 1940 treatment by Zavattini that is the earliest version of the story on which Miracle in Milan is based
New cover by Manule Fior
Cast
- Francesco Golisano
- Totó
- Emma Gramatica
- Lolotta
- Paolo Stoppa
- Rappi
- Guglielmo Barnabò
- Mobbi
- Brunella Bovo
- Edvige
- Anna Carena
- Marta
- Alba Arnova
- Statue
Credits
- Director
- Vittorio De Sica
- Story by (from his novel Totó il buono)
- Cesare Zavattini
- Script by
- Cesare Zavattini
- Vittorio De Sica
- Produced by
- Vittorio De Sica, in association with ENIC
- Cinematography by
- G. R. Aldo
- Music by
- Alessandro Cicognini
- Art direction by
- Guido Fiorini
- Special effects by
- Ned Mann
- Sid Howell
- Dave Mature
- Mattia Triznya
- Special effects camera operators
- Vaclav Vich
- Enzo Barboni
- Editing by
- Eraldo Da Roma
- Assistant directors
- Luisa Allessandri
- Umberto Scarpelli
Trailer for Miracle in Milan
