Miracle in Milan

Miracle in Milan (Miracolo a Milano, 1951) — watch online the Italian fantasy fable directed by Vittorio De Sica and co-written with Cesare Zavattini. A kind old woman finds a baby in her vegetable garden, raises him joyfully, and when she dies, the boy Totò grows up to join a community of homeless people camped on the outskirts of Milan. He organizes them, keeps their spirits up, and tries to hold the makeshift settlement together.

Then oil is found beneath the ground, and the wealthy landowner Mobbi moves to clear everyone out. A magic dove arrives — a gift from the old woman's spirit — and with it Totò starts granting wishes. The trouble is that the wishes don't end, and the dove is only one.

De Sica made this the year after Bicycle Thieves and shifted registers completely — from unflinching neorealism to warmhearted satire with a finale involving flying broomsticks. The combination shouldn't work, and somehow does. Stream Miracle in Milan (1951) online on iFILM.