Shoeshine

One of the great neo-realist pictures, De Sica, 1946
This is a classic neo-realist work; lots of medium and long shots with multiple characters, with long takes, in a simple direction and a simple, easy, development of space. It is throughout well lit. Notice that the direction does notably change once; the court scene uses close-ups with a lot of cutting. Technically, the most memorable scenes are the 'Rome, Open City' reminiscent shots of leaving the girl, and looking out of the back of the prison vehicle.
It is, as is neo-realism, the narrative, or lack of it, that really makes this what it is. The story is vague, changing. There are digressions; paths are picked off (horse leacing, returning), one scene takes on a different perspective (the warders look at the boys, not vice versa). The multiple lines opening chanllenge the traditional model of the clear linear narrative.
Remarkable too is the way the story is in no way guided, taken time through, by character motivation. Psychologies are not clear, or what they want they don't get. The scene where the police first enter is remarkable; from no volition of the characters, their world changes, with no preparation, no motivation. The story then (seems) to leave as quickly as it came; the tone abruptly shifts. Quite a moment. This sense of the arbitrary, the chance nature, is freeing, on the open city it is filmed in; a movie can be anything....
This engages in social critique, with the key message, perhaps, being 'Blame The Parents'. The sytem of brutalisation is, as de Sica so succesfully is able to do, through repetition immensely powerful (and with the charn, and the hair, of our very physically close leads. This is a sensual film. Note also the torture scene, so reminiscent of 'Open City', but with such a different result.
Neo-realism is a tragic genre, earning that right. The end could be construed as melodratic, sentimental (like 'Umberto D'), but, if this isn't untrue, it should be noted that de Sica adopts a certain uncanniness in the studio set and the horse, a strangeness, even a reticent return to a medium shot. One can do anything in the cinema.