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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
(aka "Sciuscià" or "Shoeshine" or "Shoe Shine")
An international breakthrough for neorealism, Vittorio De Sica’s Academy Award–winning film is an indelible fable of innocence lost amid the hardscrabble reality of 1940s Italy. On the streets of Rome, two boys—best friends Giuseppe (Rinaldo Smordoni) and Pasquale (Franco Interlenghi)—set out to raise the money to buy a horse by shining shoes. When they are inadvertently caught up in a robbery and sent to a brutal juvenile detention center, their loyalty to each other is severely tested. A devastating portrait of economic struggle made all the more haunting by its child’s-eye perspective, Shoeshine stands as one of the defining achievements of postwar Italian filmmaking. ***
Vittorio De Sica's 1946 neorealist masterpiece Shoeshine (original title
Sciuscià), set in the impoverished streets of postwar Rome, follows two
young shoeshine boys, Pasquale (Franco Interlenghi) and Giuseppe (Rinaldo
Smordoni), who dream of buying a horse and escape their harsh reality by shining
shoes for American soldiers, only to become unwitting accomplices in a
black-market scam that lands them in a brutal juvenile reformatory. |
Posters
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Theatrical Release: April 27th, 1946 (Milan)
Review: Criterion - Region FREE - 4K UHD
Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from: 4K UHD Blu-ray BONUS CAPTURES: |
Distribution | Criterion Spine #1272 - Region 'A' - 4K UHD / Blu-ray | |
Runtime | 1:31:42.788 | |
Video |
1.37 :1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 46,258,781,226 bytesFeature: 26,886,973,440 bytesVideo Bitrate: 34.99 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate Blu-ray: |
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Audio |
LPCM Audio Italian 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit |
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Subtitles | English, None | |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: Criterion
1.37 :1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 46,258,781,226 bytesFeature: 26,886,973,440 bytesVideo Bitrate: 34.99 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Edition Details: • Sciuscià 70 (2016), a documentary by Mimmo Verdesca, made to mark the film’s seventieth anniversary (1:01:44) • New program on Shoeshine and Italian neorealism featuring film scholars Paola Bonifazio and Catherine O’Rawe (18:56) • Radio broadcast from 1946 featuring director Vittorio De Sica (3:24) • Trailer (1:23) PLUS: An essay by film scholar David Forgacs and “Shoeshine, Joe?,” a 1945 photo-documentary by De Sica
Transparent 4K UHD Case Chapters 14 |
Comments: |
NOTE:
The below
Blu-ray
and
4K UHD
captures were taken directly from the
respective
disc.
While we are in possession of the 4K UHD disc, we cannot resolve the encode yet, and therefore, cannot obtain screen captures. We hope to add to this review at some point in the future. So, the below captures are from Criterion's 2025 1080P Blu-ray transfer.
Like
4K UHD
transfers of
The Long Wait,
I, the Jury,
and many others below, Criterion's 2160P transfer of
Shoeshine does
not have HDR applied
(no HDR10, HDR10+, nor
Dolby Vision.) We have
seen many other
4K UHD
transfers without HDR;
Mondo Macabro's
Dr. Jekyll and the Werewolf,
Cult Film's
Django
4K UHD, Umbrella's
4K UHD
transfer of
Peter Weir's
The Last Wave,
Radiance's
Palindromes,
and Criterion's
4K UHD
transfers of
The Burmese Harp,
Fires on the Plain,
Killer of Sheep,
Chungking Express,
Winchester '73,
The Mother and the Whore,
I Am Cuba,
The Others,
Rules of the Game,
Branded to Kill,
In the Mood For Love,
Night of the Living Dead, and further examples, Masters of Cinema's
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
and Kino's
4K UHDs
of
Bob le Flambeur,
Last Year at Marienbad,
Nostalghia,
The Apartment,
For a Few Dollars More,
A Fistful of Dollars,
In the Heat of the Night,
and
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, as well as Koch Media's
Neon Demon + one of the
4K UHD
transfers of Dario Argento's
Suspiria.
NOTE: We have added 54 more large
resolution
Blu-ray captures (in lossless
PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons
HERE
On their
Blu-ray
and 4K UHD,
Criterion use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original Italian
language. Audio in Shoeshine aligns with neorealist practices,
often recorded post-production due to location shooting without advanced
equipment, leading to dubbed dialogue for clarity—a common economic
necessity in postwar Italian cinema. This uncompressed audio transfer
appears to faithfully restore the original soundtrack's naturalistic
elements, including the dubbed dialogue, ambient street noises, and
Alessandro Cicognini's (Ulysses,
De Sica's
Bicycle Thieves,
Stazione Termini,
Umberto D.,
Miracle in Milan) emotive score, all with clarity and subtlety
that avoid modern embellishments. While the mono format reflects the
era's limitations, the restoration ensures clean, balanced sound free of
hiss or distortion, allowing emotional cues like the boys' cries and
muffled prison songs to resonate powerfully without overwhelming the
neorealist restraint. Criterion offer optional English
subtitles on their Region 'A'
Blu-ray.
and Region FREE
4K UHDs.
The package includes one
4K UHD
disc of the film and one
Blu-ray with
the film and special features (also available separately), offering a
robust set of supplements starting with the 2016 documentary Sciuscià
70 by
Mimmo Verdesca, running over and hour. It commemorates a
significant milestone: the 70th anniversary of the release of Vittorio
De Sica's "Shoeshine," that became the first Italian film to win
an Oscar and the inaugural recipient of the
Nastro d'Argento,
an award presented by Italian journalists. Centering on the production
of this landmark film in 1946, the documentary serves not merely as a
historical report of those events but as a vibrant revival of memories
through the candid stories of its protagonists, taking viewers on an
emotional and captivating journey. Plus we get a new 20 minute program
on Shoeshine and Italian neorealism by scholars Paola Bonifazio (Schooling
in Modernity: The Politics of Sponsored Films in Postwar Italy)
and Catherine O’Rawe (The
Non-Professional Actor, The: Italian Neorealist Cinema and Beyond);
a 3 1/2 minute radio broadcast from 1946 featuring Vittorio De Sica ("In
the Giuditta Rissone-Vittorio De Sica archive, a recording of Vittorio
De Sica's radio speech on April 27th, 1946, the day of the release of
Shoeshine in Italian theaters, was found."); the original trailer
and a liner note booklet with an essay by film scholar David Forgacs (Italian
Cultural Studies: An Introduction); and “Shoeshine, Joe?,”
a 1945 photo-documentary by De Sica. Additionally, the release boasts a
new cover by F.
Ron Miller, providing contextual depth and historical insights
that enrich appreciation of this neorealist classic.
Vittorio De Sica's "Shoeshine" remains a poignant drama set in
the ruins of post-World War II Rome, and stands as a cornerstone of
Italian neorealism, marking a deliberate shift from the escapist "white
telephone" cinema of the Mussolini era toward raw depictions of
poverty, social injustice, and human suffering. Co-written by Cesare
Zavattini (Boccaccio
'70,
Two Women,
Love in the City,
Stazione Termini,
Miracle in Milan) and inspired by De Sica's observations of real
shoeshine boys on the streets, this early entry in De Sica's "Trilogy
of Solitude" - preceding
Bicycle Thieves (1948) and
Umberto D. (1952 - not only critiques institutional failures but
also inaugurates a new era of political cinema by blending personal
tragedy with broader societal commentary, influencing global filmmakers
through its humanistic lens. Thematically, Shoeshine delves into
the erosion of innocence by societal forces, portraying how poverty and
institutional corruption transform easy childhood friendships into
deadly enmities, with the horse Bersaglieri symbolizing unattainable
dreams crushed by economic desperation and legal indifference. De Sica's
use of non-professional actors lends authenticity, with the boys'
profane, adult-like dialogue and emotional breakdowns highlighting their
premature loss of childhood. Criterion's 4K UHD
/ Blu-ray editions of Shoeshine is a
exemplary restoration that honors De Sica's heartbreaking tale of
postwar poverty and lost innocence, delivering superior video and audio
that breathe new life into the film while the thoughtful extras provide
valuable scholarly and historical context, making it an essential
purchase for cinephiles and neorealism enthusiasts alike - highly
recommended for its technical excellence and emotional impact. Own this.
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Menus / Extras
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CLICK EACH BLU-RAY and 4K UHD CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL RESOLUTION
1) Entertainment One - Region 0 - NTSC TOP
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1) Entertainment One - Region 0 - NTSC TOP
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NOTE: Entertainment One DVD is interlaced (combing)
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1) Image Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC TOP
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1) Entertainment One - Region 0 - NTSC TOP
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1) Image Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC TOP
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NOTE: One of the potential scenes that caused the 2002 Image Entertainment version to be immediately pulled from release...
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More Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray Captures
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More full resolution (1920 X 1080) Blu-ray Captures for DVDBeaver Patreon Supporters HERE
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Box Cover |
|
CLICK to order from: 4K UHD Blu-ray BONUS CAPTURES: |
Distribution | Criterion Spine #1272 - Region 'A' - 4K UHD / Blu-ray |
Search DVDBeaver |
S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |