Miracle in Milan

Italy’s crises of employment and housing are the subjects of its sentimental story, which is also a wildly imaginative tale brought to life with astonishing special effects and slapstick stunts. Its Chaplinesque star, Francesco Golisano—a nonprofessional actor and a superbly subtle physical comedian—plays Totò, a penniless orphan in a shantytown on the outskirts of Milan. When a predatory landlord summons his private army to displace its residents, Totò miraculously obtains the power of wish fulfillment, which he first deploys in an effort to help them—but his desperate neighbors quickly abuse this power, with chaotic results.