Bicycle Thieves (1948)

Perfect cast and a good story

Not even bad in a good way

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Its just a simple story, with a simple point. this is one of my favorite classic movie!

On the surface Vittorio de Sica's Bicycle Thieves doesn't appear to have a story worth filming about, since it is about a poor man whose bicycle gets stolen while on the job, but de Sica has somehow given this neorealistic motion picture such depth and such emotion that it has turned into such a great and personal film which is loved by many.It has to be noted that this is a neorealism picture, meaning that none of the actors in the film were really actors, but random people who are usually associated with their respective role. I did not find out about this until after i watched it, and i was not beginning to doubt it since the actors in this film are just as good as professional ones. Lamberto Maggiorani, who was a steel worker, captures the inner struggles and desperation of his character perfectly with his exceptional facial acting and his true energetic relentlessness in searching for his stolen bicycle.One has to ofcourse understand the struggles of post WWII italy in order to relate to the financial situation of this film, since there were a lot of poor struggling families like the one we follow in the film, and their tale of forlorn attempts to improve. We also have some great black and white cinematography which visually also creates a narrative of its own of how poverty seems to reign in Rome, with many shots of poor homes. The screenplay is as simple as the movie but still consists of so many morally questionable and realistic dialogue such as 'There's a cure for everything, except death'. Also worth a mention is the incredible score by Alessandro Cicognini, whose violins accurately enhance the sad story that is being played out on screen.Especially the final thirty minutes are absolute world class, and the final climax ( Without spoiling anything ) shows its inevitable ending so greatly. The events that unfold in the film might be simple, but it's the kind of film that will make a great emotional impact on you even when the simplest things happen due to the truly realistic depressing feeling and the great connection with the characters.

It is the exuberance of the dramatis personae of the movie that exhort me to say that despite having no element of piquancy, this is assuredly a masterpiece of profound ingenuity.

Although initially I had planned to write an elaborate review of 'Bicycle Thieves', but then I thought it really was a pointless act because millions of filmmakers, critics and fans have already established in numerous reviews, essays and homages why the film is masterful. So in the end, I decided to mention some magical scenes/moments in the film I noticed on this particular viewing that are either rich in humanism or which underline the general social conditions of war ravaged Italy :1. Subtle moment where Antonio helps Maria when she struggles to go down the slope carrying the two heavy buckets. 2. The smile on Maria and Antonio's face when the pawn shop attendant increases the exchange amount for their bed sheets from 7000 to 7500. 3. The shot where Antonio watches one of the pawn shop attendants carrying his family's bed sheets and the camera slowly reveals numerous,almost infinite bunch of bed sheets belonging to other families stacked on a towering wall of shelves, thus expanding the scope of the film in a social and political sense and pluralising the focus for a few seconds. 4. The moment where Bruno closes the window of the room before going out for work with his father in order to prevent the sunlight from coming in and falling on his baby brother/sister's face. 5. The moment where Antonio is being taught how to stick a poster on the wall and the camera suddenly shifts to two street boys who run after a rich man to ask for money. 6. The heartbreaking look on Maria's face when she becomes aware of the theft.7. The poetic moment where a bunch of chattering priests stand next to Antonio and Bruno to take shelter from the rain and subsequently we see the rain stall and the clouds disappear. As a matter of fact, 'The Bicycle Thieves' has a very interestingly ambiguous relationship with religion and mysticism. 8. The shot of Bruno standing alone at the top of a flight of stairs on a monument.9. The look of sheer joy on Bruno's face when Antonio proposes the thought of eating pizza. 10. The entire sequence in the restaurant when father and son temporarily abandon all pressing issues and decide to enjoy a meal together. 11. The shot where we see a woman with her child in the opposite apartment in the background slowly close the window as Antonio talks to the policeman in the foreground. 12. The look of sheer horror on Bruno's face as he sees his father being chased by a mob. 13. The close-up of Antonio's face at the very end of the film as he walks away with his son by his side. That haunting look on his face has the power to reduce even the hardest of men to tears. 14. The very last shot which was inspired by Chaplin's 'Modern Times' is pitch perfect. It again expands the scope of the film. We the audience say goodbye to our primary characters, as they walk away towards an uncertain future, again becoming a faceless part of the Italian working class. 15. Although this isn't a particular moment per se, but the music by Alessandro Cicognini deserves a special mention. The basic score of 'Bicycle Thieves' has an inherent despair and a sense of melancholy that is deeply moving and inescapable.It is a cliché, but it's a cliché worth repeating every time, 'Bicycle Thieves' is a stone cold masterpiece. Although it belongs to a specific time and was a result of specific social circumstances, one doesn't need to be an Italian who had lived during the post WWII era or even have any awareness of what Italian Neorealism means to feel its power. 'Bicycle Thieves' transcends temporal, cultural and social barriers due to the timelessness and universality of its humanity and its emotions. In a matter of 90 minutes, De Sica manages to perfectly showcase the kind of circumstances which might force a human being to compromise and abandon his/her subjective opinions and stances as well as objective conceptions of morality. There is no right or wrong, good or bad. Poverty and the basic need for survival can create a situation and a society where every person is only a few moments away from becoming a 'bicycle thief'.