简介：OneofthebeaconfilmsoftheEuropeancinemaoftheThirties.Celebratingthesoundfilmasarebirthofcinema,Trenopopolarecombinesandharmonises,withgenius,severalcharacteristicsofthecinemaoftheperiod.Talkingpictures,ofwhichitistoooftensaidthattheyrenderedcinematheatrical,alsoaccentuatedandstimulatedrealism.(...)Thisrealism,bornfromsoundandthepossibilitytomakecharactersspeakintheirownlangauageandwiththeirtruevoices,hereextendstoaunanimistdepictionofItaliansociety,andnotablyofthepetitebourgeoisieofthetime,portrayedwithgreatveracityinitsdailyactivityandbehaviour.Andthefactthatthefilmisentirelystagedinexteriorsmakesitpossibletoassignititsplace–itprecedesRenoir’sTonibyayear–asthefirstneo-realistwork.Thefilm’sdescriptionofsocietyispresentedwithalyricismwhichcomesinpartfromthemusicalstructure,towhichNinoRota’sscore,oneofthemostbeautifulinthehistoryofcinema,bringsanunparallelledemotionandgrace.ItwasMatarazzowhopersuadedNinoRotatoworkforthecinemaandthemusicofTrenopopolareishisfirstfilmscore.Sometimesmelancholyornostalgic,thefilmalsobreathesatendersensuality,apparentinthelandscapes,thephotographyandthemovementsofsomeofthecharacters.Thefilmachievesamiraculousbalancebetweentheacutenessofthesociologicalrealismandthelyricismofthedescriptionofnatureandofthatbriefexaltationthatseizesthecharactersintheircontactwithit. JacquesLourcelles,Dictionnaireducinéma,Laffont,Paris,1992…