There’s a reason why Martin Scorsese called the Italian neorealist movement of the 1940s and 1950s “the most precious moment in film history,” with the era reflecting cinema’s ability to access the very heart of the human soul. Having been under the thumb of Benito Mussolini for decades, once the Second World War drew to a close at the end of the ‘40s, the Italian people reclaimed cinema for themselves and began to reflect their own relatable struggles in celluloid rather than indulging in the frivolity of fantasy.