"Quiet and gentle, in stark contrast to the ever-looming violence of The Wages of Fear, this human tone poem by Ermanno Olmi has the intimate lyricism of Truffaut layered with Italian neorealism. It is toward this latter strain that Olmi moved in his subsequent work, even to the extent of being his own (albeit mediocre) camera operator; for this film, the fluid camera of Lamberto Caimi creates a near dreamlike space while staying rooted in the details of daily life."

"I was astonished to realize, relatively recently, that Charlie Chaplin had been a homeless teenager before he became the most famous film artist of his time — and that his character the Little Tramp was based, in part, on his past. As a child watching his films, I was merely entertained, but reading this book, not his “official” biography, (which I find slightly starchy), enlightened me on the daily sufferings and joys of what it was like for him before he became famous. It was published in 1916 — and yet is still so relevant today."

"Stripped to the bone, as sharp and lucent and alarming as a piece of broken crystal. An Englishwoman who has always depended on men to stay alive is older now and discarded. She has returned to Paris, which is as close as home to her as a place has been, but she no longer retains her one reliable resource, beauty. The intensity of her alienated helplessness renders with spectral clarity her memories and her precarious daily life in the city that no longer wishes to make room for her."