Simplicity pays off. And with his first feature film, Ermanno Olmi gives us proof of this. _Il tempo si è fermato_ is a ‘small’ film with a minimal setting, non-protagonist actors, and a plot that is anything but complex. And yet, despite these premises, it manages to break through to the spectator's heart precisely because of the feeling of human warmth that this setting manages to create. The chance encounter between two worlds and generations. The attention to small gestures. The imprinting of neo-realism. Olmi, not even thirty years old at the time of filming, anticipates with this gem the sensitivity that will characterise his future extensive filmography. A must for lovers of post-war Italian cinema.