SHOESHINE Criterion Review: Vittorio De Sica’s Postwar Drama Arrives on 4K UHD

Criterion has prepared a 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray edition of Vittorio De Sica‘s 1946 film Shoeshine (Sciuscià) for release this month, following their 2022 release of De Sica‘s Miracle in Milan (1951) and marking the first release of Shoeshine on the 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray format, as well as the first individual release of it on Blu-Ray and the first English-friendly release in over a decade.

Shoeshine follows two young boys, Pasquale (Franco Interlenghi) and Giuseppe (Rinaldo Smordoni), who are introduced to viewers at the film’s outset riding a horse that they wish to purchase. However, the two friends’ funds are limited due to their simple occupation as shoeshiners, leading them to take a job from Giuseppe’s brother Attilio and an associate of his, who instruct them to sell blankets to a fortune teller—which, unbeknownst to Pasquale and Giuseppe, actually functions as the setup for a robbery committed by Attilio and his associate. Pasquale and Giuseppe are allowed to keep the lira they originally believed they were only going to get a cut of, but are arrested the next day after the fortune teller points them out to the police. Denying involvement, the pair are jailed in the local juvenile detention center pending further investigation, but are quickly separated, which soon leads to a fracture in their relationship as they are exposed to the procedures and social hierarchy of the center’s system.

Criterion’s release of the film arrives in a clear plastic two-disc case with a cover by designer F. Ron Miller (who has previously designed covers for Criterion releases such as Drugstore Cowboy, Bringing Up Baby, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High). Inside, both disc retention hubs are placed on the right portion of the case, with the 4K disc’s hub extending above and partially over the Blu-Ray disc’s. On the left portion of the case, a booklet is included (as is the standard of Criterion’s releases), detailing the cast, crew, and other technical information, as well as an essay by film scholar David Forgacs titled “On Violence and Friendship” and a 1945 piece by De Sica titled “Shoeshine, Joe?”, describing his encounters with young children on the streets of postwar Rome—encounters that served as inspiration for Shoeshine.

Video and Audio

As noted in the “About the Master” section of the booklet, Shoeshine is presented here in the aspect ratio of 1:37:1. “Undertaken by The Film Foundation and the Cineteca di Bologna in association with Orium S.A., this new 4K restoration was created using the best surviving original elements.”

This 4K SDR release of Shoeshine is most definitely a substantial upgrade from the DVDs that were released across regions over a decade ago (Eureka Entertainment released it in the U.K. in 2006 as part of their “Masters of Cinema” line, and the U.S. received a release of the film in 2011). The restoration is an impressive presentation of De Sica’s film and Criterion’s disc certainly does it justice with a transfer that displays tremendous clarity and smoothness with a healthy level of grain. Upon a direct comparison of the respective 4K and 1080p presentations, I found the 4K to be a tad sharper but the 1080p rendering is still very impressive.

On the auditory side of things, the singular monaural track is likely about as good as could have hoped for and achieved on this release. It certainly won’t blow anyone away but it gets the job done and the sound didn’t appear to be markedly inhibited at any point. I anticipate that viewers will be satisfied overall with this reproduction of the film’s elements.

Special Features

No supplements are included on the 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray disc, but there are several on the standard Blu-Ray disc. All descriptions below are taken directly from the disc itself:

• Sciuscià 70: Made to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of Shoeshine, this 2016 documentary features interviews with lead actors Rinaldo Smordoni and Franco Interlenghi; Emi De Sica, the director’s daughter; and Paolo W. Tamburella, the producer’s grandson.
• “Shoeshine”: Neorealism in Focus: In this program, produced by the Criterion Collection in 2025, Italian-cinema scholars Paola Bonifazio and Catherine O’Rawe examine how Shoeshine helped to export a specific image of postwar Italy and to shape an aesthetic of realism that continues to inspire filmmakers around the world.
• Vittorio De Sica: In this radio broadcast, which aired on April 27, 1946—the day Shoeshine was released in Italian theaters—director Vittorio De Sica condemns public indifference toward street children, an issue to which the film draws attention.
• 2024 Restoration Trailer

Conclusion

Upon receiving my advance copy of Shoeshine, I hit play not knowing much about the film beyond the premise and was amazed by its exploration of sociological themes through the eyes of children within the harsh detention center (i.e. prison) that Pasquale and Giuseppe are incarcerated in, predating the empathetic wallop of De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves, another film with a strong focus on children’s view of the world around them. De Sica’s portrayal of the cruelty within the system does not make for an easy watch, but it’s clear to see why the film was so impactful upon its release nearly eighty years ago.

Criterion’s edition of the film is a terrific release of a film that has been deserving of a proper restoration for quite some time and with this new issuance will hopefully continue to be discovered and cherished for years to come. Furthermore, if it’s any indication, could a 4K UHD release of Bicycle Thieves be on the way? Time will tell.

Shoeshine is now available, courtesy of Criterion.