Umberto D. (1952) (b/w, Criterion Collection)

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A heartfelt portrait of an impoverished retired civil servant who lives in a rented room in post-war Rome with only his beloved dog and a teenage housemaid as companions. Faced with eviction when he can’t keep up with his rent, the old man struggles to make ends meet and maintain his dignity, but his growing despair leads him to contemplate suicide.

Shot on location with a cast of nonprofessional actors, Vittorio De Sica's neorealist masterpiece follows Umberto D., an elderly pensioner, as he struggles to make ends meet during Italy's postwar economic boom. Alone except for his dog, Flike, Umberto strives to maintain his dignity while trying to survive in a city where traditional human kindness seems to have lost out to the forces of modernization. Umberto's simple quest to fulfill the most fundamental human needs - food, shelter, companionship - is one of the most heartbreaking stories ever filmed and an essential classic of world cinema.