Two Weeks in Another Town

"What I mean is you're not interested only in the story and the characters in the foreground...There's always something happening on different levels on the screen. You're always telling us something about other people, the people in the background, at the same time, and making a comment on the scene, and telling us about the weather and the time of day, and working at the mood you want us to feel."
Bresach to Delaney
Two Weeks in Another Town  by Irwin Shaw
http://www.amazon.com/Weeks-Another-Town-Irwin-Shaw/dp/0440191769

In a way, this passage sums up a major characteristic of the Italian Neorealism movement and what the writer in the story describes is, in my view, the fundamental challenge faced by every film director.