Europa '51: The Blue Velvet of Italian neorealism

After rich socialite, Irene, (Ingrid Bergman) loses her son after his suicide, she becomes red-pilled and is exposed to the poverty stricken environments you’ll see in other neorealist films like Bicycle Thieves. A world that’s been right under nose the whole time but never knew existed, which is why I compare it to Blue Velvet.

Wrapped with the guilt of her son’s death, (which she feels responsible for) Irene leaves her rich life behind and is now driven by love, compassion and guilt in order to help the less fortunate, which is looked down upon by her husband, mother and the rest of society. She literally gets thrown in an institution by these people because of how out of character she’s suddenly become. And the only people who come to her when she needs them the most are the ones she ended up helping.

It’s a simple, sad and moving film about the way the poor are looked down upon by society and just how one person can make a small difference in a few people’s lives. This is my favorite film from Rossellini so far.