De Sica's follow-up to The Bicycle Thieves takes a very different - almost Chaplinesque - approach to its social comment, sugaring its pathos with almost manic feelgood vibes. The rich are mocked as the poor are ennobled (well, mostly) and consumerism is lampooned from all sides in this wonderfully universal celebration of the human spirit. I wouldn't have thought a satirical neorealist fantasy could even be possible, let alone so glorious.

Taut gangster thriller featuring expertly choreographed action sequences and fully embodying that particularly Korean blend of extreme viscerality and grim sardonicism. Shades of both John Woo and Kinji Fukasaku.