The Children Are Watching Us (1943) User Reviews

Divorce from a child's viewpoint

[AlsExGal · 9/10 · 7 September 2020]

This Italian melodrama concerns the effects on 4-year-old Prico (Luciano De Ambrosis) of his parents' dissolving marriage. His mother (Isa Pola) is having an affair, and is planning on abandoning the family, while Prico's father (Emilio Cigoli) seems powerless to fix the situation. Even when the mother's guilt from leaving her son becomes too much and a reconciliation is attempted, old passions rise up, all before the watchful eyes of young Prico.

On paper this sounds like something I'd detest, an overheated melodrama with a kid as the central focus. However, this is not the product of the American production code in which a little kid is just thrown into the proceedings to appease the censors. Instead, director De Sica manages to handle the story with finesse and style, and it ended up being one of the best movies that I've seen in a while. Young De Ambrosis is very good as the wide-eyed little boy, imbuing the proper sadness when needed. The supporting performances are all good, and much of their inner lives and motivations are left up to the viewer to figure out, as things are seen from the child's point of view.

The camerawork is also noteworthy, with a few striking scenes, such as the camera moving lithely through a crowded hotel dining room, or a series of dramatic close-ups late in the film. The powerful ending is moving and memorable.

You ll need a big box of Kleenex to get through this!

[trpuk1968 · 8/10 · 28 October 2006]

The story relates the disintegrating marriage of a bourgeois couple, indicated through their modern, spacious apartment and the housekeeper they employ. This distinguishes the film from the better known Italian neo realist works which typically take place against a backdrop of poverty and deprivation. The story is seen through the eyes of their young son, Prico.

Far more obscure than de Sica's other work, this is still nonetheless a classic because it endures, the story could take place just as easily today, with a few minor adjustments of clothing and details.

I don t agree this film is sentimental, it manages to stay just the right side of mawkishness. However, it still tugs at your heart strings, the child is just superb. The sign of a genius director that De Sica was able to manage the logistics of the crew, the equipment and coax this sort of performance out of a four year old.

This film put me in mind of Brief Encounter and it would be interesting to watch the two alongside. Both deal with infidelity and both are fantastically moving films.

The Criterion DVD is an excellent transfer. There are a couple of interviews on the disc and the accompanying sleeve notes are really informative.

Highly recommended.

I cried and I'm a big fat guy

[Dire_Straits · 9/10 · 25 January 2005]

Luckily, this movie came on Turner Classic Movies a few years ago and I had the opportunity to see it.

Since then, I have searched for reviews and couldn't find one; it's nice to see that other people have seen this de Sica masterpiece. ;) I was beginning to wonder if I was the only American to see this.

If you have seen it, how can you not love this? As I said, I saw this a few years ago - and only saw it once - yet, there are so many images in my head as I think of the film. The story is heart-wrenching. I cried when I watched it. {blushing}

This film made me a fan of neo-realism. It also was the impetus for me to watch more of de Sica's films and then those of Rossellini and Fellini.

A terrific 'tear-jerker' which SHOULD NOT BE MISSED if you ever get the chance. You'll have missed something very special if you miss it!

Cinematography & Acting for Emotional Depth

[tooter-ted · 10/10 · 20 April 2006]

This film caught me by surprise, I should say, gripped me by surprise. First, is its power to move deeply about which others have written. What might easily have seemed hollow and sentimental becomes compelling and searching because of the detailed performances given to all four of the central characters. Most amazing of these is Luciano De Ambrosis portrayal of Prico through whose eyes the story is told. The DVD includes an excellent 1984 interview with De Ambrosis in which he talks about working with De Sica. At one point the father carelessly knocks Prico into the side of a door. We know at once that the hurt to Prico is more emotional than physical, and we sympathize, but at the same time we also are drawn into the father's anguish that has brought him to this abuse. The moment is brief but hits home because it is well prepared for.

Of course the story through the boy's eye is the film through De Sica's lens, and it is always a revealing lens, emotionally caught up, frequently looking around corners or looking up at adult gossip. The world shown occasionally enters dream realities. One actual dream sequence made me think of Dali's questionable sequence in Hitchcock's "Spellbound," just three years later. However, where that is self-conscious and anything but dreamlike, this carried me off and felt genuine. I almost didn't notice as was drawn in, and everything reverberated feverishly as I was brought back. As one of the commentaries makes clear, the film had special resonance with the summer of 1942, just before war broke out. That only adds to its heart-wrenching power. The Children Are Watching Us is a magnificent plea for love and compassion. If it does not touch you, you must be very hard-hearted, indeed.

Very powerful

[zetes · 10/10 · 12 August 2001]

We see true directorial talent budding in the form of Vittorio de Sica in this near-masterpiece. He would go on to direct at least two genuine masterpieces (and others might include other films that I either had a problem with or I haven't yet seen, e.g., Shoeshine), The Bicycle Thieves and Umberto D. The Children are Watching has a couple of flaws, but it ends up being so emotionally powerful that those might escape you.

Like The Bicycle Thieves (and like Shoeshine, from what I hear), The Children are Watching takes the point of view of a young child, Prico. His parents' marriage is falling apart - his mother is in love with (and eventually leaves with) her lover, Roberto. His father is a surprisingly sensitive and loving man who is destroyed by his wife's infidelity. Of course, Prico can hardly understand this. Eventually, after Prico gets deathly ill (a fever hallucination that the boy has seems suspiciously like Dorothy's tornado fantasy in The Wizard of Oz to me - even some of the music seemed similar; hmmm...), his mother returns because she can't stand being away from her son. Although her husband wants her to get out of his life, Prico is too insistent that she stays, so she moves back in. After a few months, Prico has recovered and his father and mother have begun to love each other again.

The main flaw of this film is the fact that, because the point of view so adamantly sticks to Prico, we're never able to learn much about his parents. His father is better developed than his mother. We never get to learn much of the mother's point of view, and in the end, she seems like a simple tramp without any other motive.

Like I said, though, the ending is so powerful that you won't notice this much. However, if the mother's character had been opened a bit more to the audience, that beautiful kick-in-the-teeth final shot would have been doubly as powerful, with the audience experiencing the emotions both from Prico's point of view and his mother's. Vittorio de Sica, at least in these neorealist films, has a marvelous knack for hitting the audience where it hurts with the ending. The Bicycle Thieves and Umberto D had two of the most powerful, poignant, and complex endings ever made. The Children are Watching is equal to those in this way. Just thinking about it now brings me to tears. Seek this film out if you can. It's well worth it. 9/10

The suffering of a child.

[ItalianGerry · 6 August 2001]

THE CHILDREN ARE WATCHING US might be our favorite De Sica film and one of our favorite Italian films of all time. It portrays with delicate sympathy the suffering of a child whose parents are separated because of the mother's love affair with another man. While the husband and wife are perfectly portrayed, by Emilio Cigoli and Isa Pola, the film belongs to little Luciano De Ambrosis as the five-year-old Prico'. His performance, which runs the gamut of joy, anguish, and sickly fear, staggers us. But of course it was director De Sica who was to work miracles later with the child actors of SHOE SHINE and THE BICYCLE THIEF. The conclusion to this heartbreaking film is no less unforgettable than those of De Sica's better-known masterpieces. It is one of the most indispensable of movies from Italy's fascist era. And it is shamefully unknown today.

THE CHILDREN ARE WATCHING US (Vittorio De Sica, 1944) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 18 September 2006]

De Sica's first Neo-Realist film had been neglected over the years and, so, it was a surprise to see it being added to "The Criterion Collection". Ultimately, it's not up to his later more celebrated quartet - SHOESHINE (1946), THE BICYCLE THIEF (1948), MIRACLE IN MILAN (1951) and UMBERTO D (1952) - but, taken on its own modest merits, it's a reasonably effective work coming from an actor best-known for light fare!

As indicated by the title, the narrative is seen through the eyes of the sensitive young son of a working-class couple; the mother is having an affair and the boy is witness to - and the victim of - the inevitable disintegrating family ties, being bounced around from the household of one begrudging relative to another. The couple make a determined effort to stay together for the sake of the child (having to contend, besides, with the nosy and gossiping tenants of their condominium) - but the impetuous young man who has come between man and wife won't give her up so easily, and he finally manages to tear her from them for good. In desperation, the husband commits suicide…

The plot is pretty melodramatic and the film is infused with a good deal of sentimentality (there are plenty of close-ups of the boy weeping his heart out, for instance); clearly, De Sica's hand isn't confident as yet in juggling the various elements that comprise such slices-of-life - for one thing, he has used actors rather than the non-professionals who would come to serve him in good stead in his subsequent Neo-Realist classics. Even so, the three leading performances are undeniably excellent...while the film's real coup is to be found in its devastating - and truly uncompromising - conclusion.

The first Neo-Realist Masterpiece

[Aw-komon · 10/10 · 29 December 2000]

An unbelievably great film made a year before Visconti's "Ossessione" which is often wrongly considered the first official neo-realist film. It's a bit melodramatic in parts but filled with scene after scene of immortal, poignant truths not only about the way a child sees adults but the way everyone sees everyone else in reality and in the 'real world' where purity of soul and honesty matters and is always heroic, where as Pascal wrote, man's greatness is so obvious it can even be deduced from his wretchedness. This extremely fleeting 'real world' is never fixed but nevertheless always there in some essence or another waiting to be discovered and 'captured' underneath a thousand and one veils. Neo-realism provided techniques for snaring those elusive essences better. And these techniques have endured to this day, where the sons of the sons of neo-realist films from all around the world are instantly recognized as valuable and given acclaim (most recently a slew of impressive films from Iranian directors). Even if De Sica hadn't gone on to make "Shoeshine," "Bicycle Thief," and "Umberto D" he already had enough in this one little film to earn respect as one of the supreme artists of the 20th century.

The Beginning of It All

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 10 August 2016]

A four-year old boy, Pricò, becomes the subject of emotional folly by his fluctuant parents and inattentive relatives.

Peter Brunette notes, "The Children Are Watching Us marks the first full blossoming of one of the most fruitful collaborations in world cinema history. The brilliant pairing of legendary Italian actor and hitherto commercial director Vittorio DeSica with Cesare Zavattini, the talented screenwriter who was to become the chief theorist of the neorealist movement that flourished in Italy right after World War II, created a synergy of magnificent proportions, which allowed each man to transcend his own individual limitations." So, Brunette might be a little flowery with his prose, but he is spot on. Regardless of whatever internal qualities this film has, good or bad, it is historically significant because of its place at the beginning of DeSica's career. This may be his least-known film, or at least one of the lesser known, but without it there would never have been "Bicycle Thieves", "Umberto D", or much of anything else. This really is the birth of the neo-realist movement that defined Italy for a generation.

one of the finest Neorealist films ever made--in fact, one of the finest films ever made...period!!

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 7 July 2006]

The Italian Neorealist movement in films began about the time this movie was made and extended to the mid 1950s. It produced some of the finest films made anywhere (such as UMBERTO D, OPEN CITY and MIRACLE IN MILAN). The films were called "Neorealist" because they did not feature big name actors but ordinary people in ordinary situations. And, because so many of these stories were told with such love and depth, I am a huge fan of the genre.

Of the Neorealist directors, my favorite has been Vittorio De Sica. The films he made during this time period are among his very best and when fame and recognition came his way and the budgets increased, the films generally suffered because they lost that human touch (though there are some notable exceptions such as TWO WOMEN--very Neorealistic in style except that it starred Sophia Loren). These movies all have incredible camera work and artistry and weave a wonderful, but often heart-breaking tale.

Up until I saw this film, I thought UMBERTO D was perhaps De Sica's best film, but now I am convinced that this much less famous film is the finest one he made. THE CHILDREN ARE WATCHING US is simply magnificent and I can't think of a single way the script could have been improved. Again and again, the director made some very brave choices and risked alienating his audience in order to make a realistic and gut-wrenching film--not another Hollywoodized film with a happy ending.

The film focuses on a short period in the life of a darling little boy ("Pricò"), played marvelously by Luciano De Ambrosis. His was perhaps one of the best performances I have seen by a young child actor, as he was able to cry and react so perfectly. I'm sure a lot of this performance can be attributed to the director.

Pricò's mother is a selfish woman who has been cheating on her husband. Eventually, she runs off and leaves the apparently decent husband to try to raise the boy. His family is not at all supportive nor is his wife's sister and they all behave like it's a huge burden to help raise this sweet kid and the neighbors offer no support--only gossip. There was no daycare back then and the man is beside himself trying to do the right thing. When he has run out of options, his wife surprisingly returns and the man tries very hard to patch things up--taking them on a holiday and spending a lot of money trying to make her happy. Eventually, the father had to return to Rome to work and left them to enjoy their vacation for a few more days. Unfortunately, shortly after he departs, the old boyfriend returns and the mother doesn't try very hard to dissuade him. In fact, after a little while, she completely ignores Pricò. The boy is only about four, but is pretty bright, so he realizes he isn't wanted by Mom so he plans on running away to rejoin Dad. When he wanders off to the train station, he's nearly killed by a speeding train and the cops end up bringing him back to Mom at the hotel.

Instead of learning from this or taking more responsibility, Mom sends the boy home to Dad and runs off with her boyfriend once again. She doesn't even let her husband know to his face--sending a telegram instead informing him she wasn't returning. The man is overwhelmed and reaches out to his son in one of the more touching scenes in the film (since, in general, men are usually very controlled with their kids). However, with no other options, he takes the boy to stay at a boarding school with the church. A short time later, the father kills himself and Mom comes to the school to see Pricò. However, in a gut-wrenching scene, the boy refuses to accept her and walks away as the film concludes.

Okay, I'll admit that my summary sounds pretty grim. Well, that's because this is a grim film. Child abandonment and adultery IS a grim topic and I truly appreciate how the writer, Cesare Zavattini, refuses to back away from the pain or give hope when none is due. It was said that the director himself wanted the film to end on the negative note with the boy rejecting the mother. Hollywood and even Italian convention of the day would have dictated a happier ending (and probably not even included the suicide) but in order to achieve real lasting impact and reality this would have ruined the film.

Apart from the perfect ending, the film is full of so many marvelous moments with great acting. The boy and his family were able to cry or get misty-eyed repeatedly during the film--not a small thing for an actor and especially for a little boy. Also, practically everyone in the audience must have had their hearts break during many of the most difficult moments, or, in the case of the train almost hitting the boy, there's no doubt that the audiences of the day must have cried out in horror at the seemingly imminent death of the boy. While very emotionally charged, though, the film never is schmaltzy or manipulative but seems real throughout. An impressive and perfect film.

PS--Although I often do NOT watch the extras on DVDs, the extras on this Criterion DVD are essential. First, the adult De Ambrosis (Pricò) talks about the filming and it gives great insight into the movie. Second, Callisto Costulich (a film scholar) has a segment that explains the context for the film. This was important because the movie shows no evidence that Italy was at war--even though it came out in 1943 (or 1944--both dates are given on the DVD). This is interesting stuff not to be missed.

Neo-realism prototype

[Polaris_DiB · 6/10 · 22 February 2007]

Some people call this the first Neo-realist film...some give that wonderful prize to Open City. I wouldn't be surprised if some other films also get nominated for that category. At any rate, this film is definitely early Neo-realist, and in fact is more like a prototype of the genre. It contains a social message and doesn't attempt to show Italian society as an upper class wonder of the world, but it still is focused on the upper class and it lacks a lot of the grittiness that makes Neo-realism so impactive.

The English title given to it is the very message of the movie: our children are watching us as we dissolve the family. The adults in this film are well-meaning and not necessarily bad, but taken by vice and dysfunction they are slowly deconstructing the family unit. What does that mean to the future of the Italians, and what does it mean to the nation? Those are the issues this film takes on.

The acting is superb and the cinematography is pretty good. Some of it didn't seem to mesh as well as other parts. The fever dream was excellent cinematography but cut away from the theme of the clear-sightedness of childhood. Some moments seemed rather superfluous, such as the train. Neo-realism was filled with digressions and attempts at real movement through space, but this movie seemed to try to put importance on the train (danger, perhaps, martyrdom maybe) that I don't really feel was there.

It's definitely an important movie that is of the very sort that people who like to be well-versed in film will probably want to see. I don't think it actually holds up that well over time, however. It's more of interest to form rather than vitality.

--PolarisDiB

A Perfect Match of Child Actor and Legendary Director: Honest Storytelling

[museumofdave · 9/10 · 28 March 2013]

Once in a great while, a child actor and a director are perfectly matched so that the child delivers an indelible performance that etches itself firmly into film history, as Jean-Pierre Leaud did for Truffault in The 400 Blows, or Haley Joel Osment accomplished for Shamalyan in The Sixth Sense; The child Luciano De Ambrosis performs with an incredible sensitivity to the insensitive adults around him, a mother and father who search for their own bliss while forgetting their child's well-being. Because it was released during WWII in Italy, DeSica's early effort did not receive the kudos it deserved, but deserves to rank in the pantheon with Bicycle Thief and Umberto D; it's a simple story of learning bitter lessons, with a memorable, well-defined sense of time and atmosphere.

Adults Behave Badly in The Children are Watching Us

[st-shot · 7/10 · 9 January 2008]

Before his historical foray into neorealism Vittorio De Sica made this melodramatic tear jerker about a child witnessing the break-up of his parent's marriage in 1942 Italy. As in Shoeshine and Bicycle Thief he employs a child as the major protagonist and shoots most of the film from the boy's point of view. Prico is the only child of a comparatively well off family who along with a housekeeper dotes on him. The father, Andre holds a good job and is without vice. His mother, Nina, is also nurturing but caught up in a passionate affair with Roberto an impetuous lover whose selfish actions are all the more grotesque from Prico's vantage point. When Nina runs off with Roberto, Andreas quietly suffers the humiliation and pain in order to protect his son at any price. Eventually Nina returns and the family begins to heal together but Roberto re-enters the picture where once again Nina's role as mother and wife are challenged.

Considering the era and place (Fascist Italy) The Children are Watching Us is an audacious film for its time. What separates it from similar formulaic tepid melodramas of the period is De Sica's decision to arrange it around the child's subjective viewpoint and to have the infidelity occur with the mother. The father straying would almost be a cliché but the mother of a young child would make it absolutely scandalous. Along the way De Sica also skewers petite bourgeois hypocrisy and the idle class with a parade of nosy neighbors and lascivious vacationers.

Like most of De Sica's finer works, Children has a highly emotional ending that packs quite a wallop. Still, I must admit to a class snobbery in my clear cut preference for the underclass neo-realist works with their distressed socio-economic situation, marginal characters and their day to day survival shot amid the ruins of post war Italy. But even with all the benefits of the privileged child, Prico's painful experience is conveyed in the same stylistic subjectivity of jump cuts and revealing tracking shots that give the neorealist works their form and much of their power. They may be a rung up on the economic ladder but it does not ameliorate their tragic circumstance.

A film about a kid

[AAdaSC · 5/10 · 15 March 2010]

Prico (Luciano De Ambrosis) has a mum Nina (Isa Pola) who likes abandoning him and then showing up when he's in trouble. He spends most of the film in the care of his father Andrea (Emilio Cigoli). However, life deals Prico an emotional blow and he is forced to make a choice....

It's a film about a kid so .....guess what......it's not very interesting. The acting is good but the story drags. Which parent will the kid side with? Adriano Rimoldo is quite creepy as Nina's love interest 'Roberto' who keeps showing up. God knows what she sees in him and the relationship doesn't make the film interesting. The audience's sympathies are entirely with Andrea who goes through the film with dignity. The film builds towards a poignant moment and the story leans towards the more tragic interpretation......in reality, things will be fine, especially once the kid starts taking drugs to forget that his mum has given him the name Prick.

The Child's Gaze

[ilpohirvonen · 8/10 · 30 November 2013]

"The Children Are Watching Us" (1944) was the first film De Sica made in collaboration with the screenwriter Cesare Zavattini with whom he later made most of his films. The film works well as a sentimental introduction to his oeuvre. Already its title refers to De Sica's favorite subject of childhood which he studied all his life. In this film, he immerses into the realm of the child's gaze.

Although all the ingredients for a banal melodrama are present, De Sica eludes them with elegance. He does this precisely by focusing on the subject of childhood and, most importantly, on the child protagonist, his subjective experience and feelings of abandonment. Some may consider the adult characters of this divorce drama thin or black and white, and while this may be true, it is perfectly justified just as well because De Sica defines them by the child's point of view. Thus they are characterized by his mental distinctions, images and emotions.

As a matter of fact, the theme of watching is a leading idea in "The Children Are Watching Us". Throughout the film the protagonist observes his environment: the animals, the city, the puppet theater, the urban movement and, above all, the grown-ups. Not only is the familiar idea of the child's blaming gaze present but also his way of learning by imitation. A certain climax of this theme of watching can be seen in the scene where the boy and his father remain quiet, but experience a moment of understanding which De Sica depicts only by using extreme close-ups of their honest faces.

To go further in the analysis of the title, it should be noted that it is in plural, although there is really just one child, thus suggesting a more universal, moral message. The title is especially associated with the blaming gaze; that is to say, the child's ability to judge us by approval and disapproval. This is equivalent with the philosophy of De Sica's masterpiece "Bicycle Thieves" (1948) where a child character is used as a moral observer or, should I say, the protagonist's moral conscience.

In fact, a film historian Peter Bondanella has well noted that Roberto Rossellini's manifesto film of Italian neo-realism, "Rome, Open City" (1945) established children as the symbol for the future of Italy as a nation. This is evident in many films from the era and especially in De Sica's "Shoeshine" (1946) where boys must kneel down before American soldiers to shine their shoes. Although "The Children Are Watching Us" is completely free from such political thought as a sentimental drama, it gains its sadness from precisely similar elements "Shoeshine" does. In other words, the child protagonist feels emotionally helpless in a situation he doesn't understand, but what makes this even more poignant is the child's awareness of this situation; that is, of his own helplessness.

Italian melo-drama.

[bobsgrock · 8/10 · 1 October 2009]

Vittorio De Sica, at this time better known for being in front of the camera, started to come into his own as a director with this touching story of a family coming apart at the seams in 1940s Italy. The story centers around Luciano De Ambrosis as Prico, a young child who must suffer the consequences of his parents' actions, specifically his mother. Her decision to run away with her lover causes serious turmoil amongst the father and son as well as her sister and the grandmother.

De Sica tells most of the story from the child's point of view, which causes the audience to sympathize with Prico and the father. The one weakness would be that the mother is not as sympathetic as she should be and that takes away from the power of the emotional ending, despite it still being very moving. At times it is almost too hard to watch; to see these people tear themselves from each other is almost unbearable, but De Sica has style and grace in his visuals, which makes it more emotional than difficult.

This was the launching point for De Sica, who would go on to direct The Bicycle Thief and Umberto D. in addition to becoming a world-renown director of realism and family turmoil. While not his strongest, this is certainly a very good film that captures child memories and disturbances and makes us brace for them as much as Prico does.

Fairly good

[Jeremy_Urquhart · 6/10 · 14 May 2023]

In all truthfulness, I haven't been crazy about Vittorio De Sica outside his two most well-known films (Umberto D. And Bicycle Thieves). But I still thought this was pretty solid overall. It's simple and a little dull in parts, but for a good deal of its runtime, it does feature the qualities that most people seem to really love about De Sica as a filmmaker.

If there is one thing that stood out, it was probably the performance of the kid here, played by a six-year-old Luciano De Ambrosis. He's the heart of this film, and gave quite a moving and effective performance (or, given his age, and the way child-acting often is, maybe De Sica deserves a good deal of credit for that too).

Closely observed adults.

[brogmiller · 10/10 · 3 May 2020]

There is nothing in Vittorio de Sica's previous four films that would prepare us for this, his fifth. A legion of writers contributed to the screenplay but the name that jumps out is that of Cesare Zavattini. His subsequent collaborations with de Sica make theirs one of the most fruitful and creative partnerships in the history of cinema.

Emilio Cigoli is the father, Isa Pola the mother and Luciano de Ambrosis the child, all of whom are splendidly 'real'. Apparently de Sica cast Luciano because the five year old had recently lost his mother which obviously meant that he would need less inducement to cry! Throughout the decades children have given miraculous performances on film and little Luciano's is one to treasure.

Here de Sica has concentrated on the follies, foibles and frailties of humankind and even the minor characters are wonderfully drawn. He never judges however, simply observes. This is a film that cannot fail to engage the emotions and anyone who is not moved by it is flint-hearted. Although unjustly overlooked at the time, its influence in changing the face of Italian cinema is indisputable.

De Sica's first masterpiece

[mcongedi · 9/10 · 19 May 2020]

Made during the second world war in Italy, this film got limited exposure due to the chaotic and turbulent period in which it was made. But it deserves far more attention than it got.

The film is largely told from the point of view of Prico, a small boy who has to suffer the consequences of his parents' rocky relationship. De Sica was one of the greatest directors ever to work in cinema and in this first of his four masterpieces he demonstrates where his strengths lie. Few directors have had his ability to get the audience to identify with the main characters. His handling of children actors is second to none (they are never cute and coy and always put in believable performances). Scenes of every day mundane events are included for the sake of keeping rhythm and to show that life is made up of such little things. His sense of framing is always top-notch and the scripts (often written in conjunction with the great Cesare Zavattini) are well thought out.

It's a hard-to-find film, but it's well worth searching far and wide for it.

Incompreso

[dbdumonteil · 9/10 · 31 March 2016]

In "Umberto D" later on,De Sica would describe a poor old man's end of life whose dog is the only companion.(remade in France as "Un Homme Et Son Chien" in the naughties) In "I Bambini Ci Guardano" ,he depicts the beginning of life ,a harsh one: a little boy,whose eyes are longing for love and affection,sees her mother taken away from him by a buck.The mother is selfish ,the father is weak ,and both do not even notice the tragedy in their boy's eyes.

A clever boy,who knows that something is wrong in his small world: he refuses the shake the "gentleman's" hand;he asks her mother to kiss him good night,and he wonders why she keeps her hat on.

Except perhaps during the holidays at the seaside,where the mother meets futile callow people -and meets again her lover,her evil genius -,the brat never enjoys moments of true happiness:for instance ,he almost never plays with friends his age,which seems to indicate that he's already in the hard adults world: he even thinks of suicide -in the extraordinary scene on the railroad track - ,which is rare for a child so young (Rosellini showed such a scene in his "Europa 51",but his unfortunate hero was older).There will be a suicide, anyway ,and a complete destruction of the family,no Hollywoodian happy end .

De Sica's psychic son,as far as children's tragedy is concerned ,is arguably Luigi Comencini;both found the words,the looks that depicts a child's distress:for that matter ,see "Incompreso" (1967) and " Eugenio" (1979).

At a time when divorce has become common,when many irresponsible movies treat it like a comedy,do not forget that the children are watching us.

Crap unbelievable story.

[jackbenimble · 5/10 · 3 June 2010]

It's hard to review this because it's so good and so bad at once. As the forerunner of the Bicycle Thief it has all the same realist filming and it's a delight to watch in slow paced and close up the Italy of the 1940's. The music's nice and the various shots are quite arty but not pretentious but then the bad: what kind of a story was THAT? SPOILER ALERT! It's basically about a child whose Mum keeps popping off with her lover. She then keeps popping back and we get the jilted husband looking all serious and mean and hurt. Various scenes of the kid with a crumpled sad face and you begin thinking WTF?!! In the end she buggers off with the lover the father dumps the kid and goes and tops himself!! At that point i just lost it and started laughing in the place you're supposed to cry in it was all so ridiculous and absurd and melodramatic. So all in all a watchable film but there's no realism or even neorealism in this story at all. Unbelievable.

Well Worth Seeing

[atlasmb · 8/10 · 17 March 2014]

Usually, a film about the passions of people, the struggles between propriety and desires, deals with the children of those involved merely by mentioning that the children are a consideration, like factors. The Children Are Watching Us centers the action around the son of a couple embroiled in the heartaches of an extra-marital affair. Although the story considers the emotions of the adults, it is the child's emotions that are at the heart of this story.

The young actor, Luciano De Ambrosis, portrays the child so well, the viewer is never taken out of the story. The director focuses on his eyes to remind us that children see (and sense) more than adults think they do.

It has been written that the action of this movie is filmed from the child's point of view, but this is not technically correct. As viewers, we see the actions of the parents and the child. What makes this film different is that the camera continually returns to the child and focuses on his actions, which are obviously in response to the actions of the adults. Other films have centered on children, but The Children Are Watching Us juxtaposes and intertwines the actions of the adults and the actions of the child, creating a clear cause and effect relationship between the two.

The son, Prico, has little control over the events of his life. This is a reality that children have to live with. The film conveys this well. Prico uses few words of dissent. He does not express his unhappiness verbally. But his eyes convey those feelings better than words ever could and underscore the fact that he has no say in the events that shape his life.

The photography in this B&W film is striking. The scenes are composed intelligently. Sometimes the camera focuses on the magnitude of buildings or spaces, emphasizing the smallness of a child.

This is a film that drags emotions out of the viewer by emphasizing the helplessness of children and the universality of its theme.

A Child in an Adult World

[ems97 · 10/10 · 27 April 2011]

This movie displays an adult world caught up in its own silly preoccupations, where children are merely nuisances. All the adults are thinking about romance, dancing, reading, working. The boy's mother goes so far as to leave her son and husband to run off with a boyfriend. This theme resonates through every scene of the movie. The boy is excited to see the horses - turns out it's horse racing. Even the activities ostensibly carried out for children are part of the adult world. In a puppet show, the adults behind the scene angrily demand that a young girl go collect money from viewers. The movie does not only depict the dominance of the adult world over children; it also mocks the adult world. In one particularly powerful scene, the camera focuses on dancing legs - what a silly preoccupation! This is not to say that the world of the child is perfect. Prico, the young boy, is rude to the other children, and is too caught up in his own amusements, such as riding a scooter, to interact with them. And the adult world is not pure silliness. The boy's father makes an earnest effort to make his wife happy, even after she comes back from initially leaving him.

Competes with "Bicycle Thief" for best De Sica film

[Father-McKenzie · 10/10 · 21 July 2010]

A truly amazing film. I didn't think "The Bicycle Thief" could be topped, but I think this film poses a credible threat. Even among the amazing adult acting performances, the child's performance stands out. The child acting performance of Luciano De Ambrosis is legendary, and I fail to think of a better child performance in film history ('Shoeshine' had some good performances, as well). I'd like to think of myself as a cinematic "tough guy"; one who does not cry easily at something so simple as a movie. However, this ending is guaranteed to leave you in tears. If you thought Bicycle Thief's ending was heartbreaking (and climactically abrupt), you haven't seen nothing yet. 10/10.

Missing footage

[mikedbelluk · 10/10 · 24 September 2008]

In this website The movie with the Italian running time shows 107 Minutes vs The criterion release at 84 Minutes. does anyone know why the footage is less and what does it contain?I have the criterion collection with the interview with the star who played the young child. Everything about the film has been said before and is a brilliant piece of work directed by De Sica. Please if anyone has seen the full uncut version please reply-to this comment. Also recommend Umberto D and The bicycle Thieves, Criterion Collection. Look forward to any comments, and speculations of the missing footage.

thanks