Study of Film: Children in and the Progression of Neorealism
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The child in film has typically been interesting because of the tendency to see children as “Other”. They behave and view the world differently, as if adults don’t remember the logic of their own childhood. The genre of neorealism sets out to capture the everyday pleasure of unglamorous people in the midst of a bleak or devastating location. Like animals, the helplessness and inherent innocence plays upon the viewer’s emotions and sympathies. The four films analyzed in this paper, Vittorio De Sica’s Ladri Di Biciclette, Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali, Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep, and Lee Daniels’ Precious, provide a story of great struggle in a violent landscape where salvation is not foreseeable and, through children, the simple moments of family or friend is highlighted. The child or children in these films serve various purposes and are not as alike as anticipated.