--- title: "Umberto D.: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/umberto-d/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/umberto-d" critics_score: 86 critics_reviews: 10 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Umberto D. (1952): what the critics said Critics' score 86 from 10 reviews: 10 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews are uniformly positive, with praise centred on the film’s close attention to everyday routines and its compassionate account of poverty and isolation. Most critics find that its emotional force comes from restraint: small gestures, silence and the pensioner’s bond with his dog carry more weight than conventional dramatic incident. The non-professional lead performance draws particular admiration for its dignity and pride, while several reviews also find humour and wit amid the hardship. The differences are matters of emphasis rather than substantial disagreement, and the range of opinion is narrow. Time Out gives more weight to the depressive tone, though it still praises the compassion and lack of sentimentality. Slant Magazine acknowledges a risk of sentimentality but argues that precise details and body language keep it in check; across the reviews, bleakness is chiefly treated as inseparable from the film’s attention to social neglect. ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 28 April 2002. Ebert deems it the best of the Italian neorealist films for its direct simplicity and avoidance of forced effects or messages. He singles out the un sentimental portrayal of the old man's bond with his dog and his quiet dignity in facing poverty. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-umberto-d-1952) ## Sight and Sound — Karel Reisz Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). The critic describes the film as a masterpiece of neorealism, praising its profound poetic intensity in scenes of everyday observation and its passionate identification with the characters' human predicament. It highlights the experimental extension of the neorealist approach through a chain of side-observations rather than conventional drama. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/umberto-d-1952-reviewed-karel-reisz) ## Slant Magazine — Budd Wilkins Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 7 September 2012. The critic describes Umberto D. as an almost perfect blend of social commentary and intimate humanistic drama, with astringent observations on societal neglect and an affecting finale. It risks sentimentality but succeeds through subtle details, gesture, and body language in its portrayal of poverty and isolation. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/umberto-d/) ## The AV Club — Ignatiy Vishnevetsky Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 3 August 2015. The critic calls Umberto D. a modest masterpiece of Italian neorealism that trades in Chaplin-like pathos and expresses itself through contrasts of sadness and humor, cruelty and touch. It achieves sublimity through silence, inference, and the non-professional lead performance rather than sentimentality. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-definitive-man-s-best-friend-movie-is-about-so-mu-1798282597) ## Variety — Variety Staff Rating **. 31 December 1951. The review finds the simple tale of a poor pensioner's struggles offers sharp and poignant observations of life, humanity, and solitude. It notes the compelling performances, especially the maid's, and the disturbing overall effect even as the ending brings a note of hope via the dog. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1951/film/reviews/umberto-d-1200417105/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 6 September 2002. Turan celebrates the restored classic for finding drama, beauty, and poetry in simple lives and everyday routines. He singles out the nonprofessional lead performance for its compelling dignity and pride amid encroaching age and hardship. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-sep-06-et-kenny6-story.html) ## The New Yorker — David Denby Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 29 June 2009. Denby calls it a great neo-realist film that fulfills the ideal of a story in which nothing happens yet reveals an entire world of social indifference. He praises the surprising wit, humor, and extraordinarily beautiful footage of Roman streets despite the bleak outlook. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/07/06/a-man-and-his-dog) ## Empire — David Parkinson Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 3 July 2006. The critic calls this a remarkable neo-realist collaboration that came closest to fulfilling Zavattini's austere ideal of 90 minutes of a man doing nothing, and notes it remained De Sica's favourite film for eschewing sentimentality in depicting marginal lives. They single out the deep-focus cinematography and studio-controlled imagery that emphasises the protagonist's isolation and entrapment. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/umberto-d-review/) ## The New York Times Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 17 February 2002. The piece presents the film as the purest expression of Italian neorealism at the moment the movement ended. It highlights the relentless dissection of postwar society through the story of an old pensioner battling eviction and isolation. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/17/movies/film-when-neo-realism-collided-with-reality.html) ## Time Out — GB Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 3 May 2011. The review acknowledges the film's depressive tone centered on an isolated old man but affirms the director's compassion and the dignity of the lead performance. It notes that the film avoids sentimentality despite its bleak subject matter. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/umberto-d-1) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/umberto-d.md