Bicycle Thieves, 1948 Norman N. Holland. Released in 1948, Bicycle Thieves is an Italian neorealist film directed by Vittorio De Sica, wherein a man named Antonio and his son, Bruno, scour post-war Italy in an effort to reclaim a stolen bicycle.In order to best understand the representation of class in Bicycle Thieves, this essay will adopt a Marxist approach, applying it mainly to three specific scenes and the film language of which . American movies influenced by Bicycle Thieves include Wendy and Lucy, starring Michelle Williams. Copyright 1999 - 2023 GradeSaver LLC. Thief stealing a bike in the city street. 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The film follows Antonio Ricci, the main character, during his search for his stolen bicycle. The bicycle (symbol) In the beginning of the film, we recognize the bicycle as the key to Antonio's employment, as the billposter position requires it for transport around Rome. Browse 1,552 bicycle thieves stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. Dreamstime is the world`s largest stock photography community. Stephen Snyder and Howard Curle, Vittorio De Sica: Contemporary Perspectives, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 2000. 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It follows the story of a poor father searching in post-World War II Rome for his stolen bicycle, without which he will lose the job which was to be the salvation of his young family. The crowd consisting of the thiefs neighbors thwarts Antonios capturing of the thief, and the mob nearly attacks Antonio for supposedly provoking the thiefs seizure. Lotte Eisner called it the best Italian film since World War II and Robert Winnington called it "the most successful record of any foreign film in British cinema. This essay seeks to analyze Bicycle Thieves film, its themes and the relevance of its ending towards elevating the film. [38], The film was noteworthy for film directors of the Iranian New Wave, such as Jafar Panahi and Dariush Mehrjui. Sort by: Most popular. Cast: Lamberto Maggiorani (Antonio Ricci), Enzo Staiola (Bruno Ricci), Lianella Carell (Maria Ricci), Gino Saltamerenda (Baiocco), Vittorio Antonucci (the bicycle thief), Giulio Chiari (the beggar).]. If it were my bicycle, I would have you locked up! The position that women specifically take on in the world of Bicycle Thieves adds a gendered component to De Sicas hat symbolism. He later cast the 8-year-old Enzo Staiola when he noticed the young boy watching the film's production on a street while helping his father sell flowers. Her minor subplot could so easily have been either cut or used simply as a transitional device, and yet it is testament to the power of De Sica as director and to Cesare Zavattini as writer that the desperation of her story, both echoes and mirrors Antonios. In a snowball effect, the loss of his bicycle means he is unable to work and therefore unable to provide for his family. Published Nov 8, 2021. None of the scenes in this film . The first work we see Antonio doing is hanging up a poster of Rita Hayworth, a sign that Hollywood is part of the Italian landscape. In Italy, the neorealist impulse has been refreshed in each generation, in the work of filmmakers like Ermanno Olmi and, most recently, Alice Rohrwacher, whose Happy as Lazzaro infuses a story of hardship and exploitation with literal magic. Due to less-than-ideal economic conditions, Antonio will never become a Rita Hayworth-esque Hollywood icon, and his facewith its sharp cheekbones and wrinklessignify the sacrifices hes made to merely survive in post-WWII Italy. A: Bruno Ricci serves as a completely innocent observer to his father Antonio. Bicycle Thieves may seem like an improbable gateway to the glamorous golden age of Italian cinema, the starry, sexy cosmos of Loren, Gina Lollobrigida and La Dolce Vita, but sensuality and spectacle are hardly alien to the neorealist universe. Her creative portfolio can be viewed atwww.evaberezovsky.com. [10] In 1958, the film was voted number 3 on the prestigious Brussels 12 list at the 1958 World Expo, and number 4 in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010. A Guided Tour of MAGA Country in The Storm Is Here, The Computer Accent Shows What Happens When AI Takes Over the Artistic Process, Bros and the Legacy of Gay Cowboy Movies, The Fight for a Clean Environment: The New Sacrifice Zones, The Banshees of Inisherin Is One of the Best Films of the Year, Environmental Collapse and the Future of the Planet Hang in the Balance in Orphans of Canland, Missing Is a Brilliant, Dark Story About Mystery and Death, The Sex Scandal That Brought Down the Falwells, Chinas Real-Estate Crisis: An Economic Perfect Storm, Dont Look at the Demon Delivers Fine Acting, Impressive Special Effects, Great Halloween Films for People Who Hate Horror. Based on a book by Luigi Bartolini, with a script by Cesare Zavattini written, as Crowther noted, with the camera exclusively in mind Bicycle Thieves is a political parable and a spiritual fable, at once a hard look at the conditions of the Roman working class after World War II and an inquiry into the state of an individual soul. Bicycle Thieves opens with a slow pan that follows a bus into a shabby suburban housing estate. Italy at the end of the Second World War was a broken, occupied country with mass unemployment and unfettered corruption (much of which stemmed from the now defunct Black Shirts, or from the Christian Democrats, or the Communist Party, with each group giving preference its own interests and promoting its members or associates over others). The film is almost pitch perfect from beginning to end, yet, as often happens, something is lost in the translation of its title, Ladri Di Biciclette, which literally means Bicycle Thieves, but in America is known as The Bicycle Thief. [18], Bicycle Thieves has continued to gain very high praise from critics, with the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reporting 99% of 67 contemporary reviews as positive, with an average rating of 9.20/10. The first bike thief stole the bicycle, because he could not afford to buy it, to sell and earn a living. And it is through the symbolism of the hat that Vittorio De Sicas film advocates for the value and respect of womanhood. Ladri di biciclette (translating in English as Bicycle Thieves, though it is more commonly known in that language as The Bicycle Thief) is a 1948 Italian drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica.The film is regarded as one of the greatest films ever to come out of Italy, and one of the greatest overall of all time; regularly appearing on various critics' and magazines' lists of the top 10 best . Maria continuously encourages Antonios productivity and is perhaps largely responsible for any success he may claim -- for the most part. Instantly the hue and cry is raised and Bruno who has missed the tram is stunned to see his father pursued, surrounded and pulled from the bicycle. No sound stages, no Hollywood . Antonios job depends on him keeping the bike at his disposal and in good working order. Maria peers into the locker rooms where Antonio is employed, only to have the shutters rudely closed on her, illustrating the exclusion of women in the workforce. The condition of the job as a poster hanger is that he needs to have a bicycle, but in order to feed his family Antonio had already pawned his bicycle. Studying Comparative Literature and Design, Eva is interested in writing,visual work, and the intersection of the two. [46], Ente Nazionale Industrie Cinematografiche, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, "The Bicycle Thief (1948) THE SCREEN; Vittorio De Sica's 'The Bicycle Thief,' a Drama of Post-War Rome, Arrives at World", "Why You Should Still Care About 'Bicycle Thieves' - On the unforgettable heartbreak and enduring pleasures of an Italian neorealist masterpiece", "The Bicycle Thief / Bicycle Thieves (1949) review", "TCM's 15 most influential films of all time, and 10 from me", "The Bicycle Thief / Bicycle Thieves (1949)", "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema 60. They find a bicycle frame that might be Antonio's, but the sellers refuse to allow them to examine the serial number. He is offered a job of pasting advertising bills but tells Maria that he cannot accept because the job requires a bicycle. Sign up for my newsletter. The poster of a sultry Rita Hayworth, which Antonio glues up on his first day of work, symbolizes the contrast between the luxurious lifestyle of the Hollywood elite and the harrowing, bleak poverty ubiquitous in postwar Europe. The quest for the recovery of the bike makes for the greater part of the story and the significance being Antonios desperation for and realization of a better life for him and his family. [30], The Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa cited this movie as one of his 100 favorite films. The moment where the roles reverse, the son realises his father is not superhuman, and the father realises he can no longer command the respect of his son, but rather has to earn it. Italian critic Guido Aristarco praised it, but also complained that "sentimentality might at times take the place of artistic emotion." [19] In 1999, Chicago Sun-Times film reviewer Roger Ebert wrote that "The Bicycle Thief" is so well-entrenched as an official masterpiece that it is a little startling to visit it again after many years and realize that it is still alive and has strength and freshness. WOW!!! [29] The film was voted at No. "[24], Bicycle Thieves is a fixture on the British Film Institute's Sight & Sound critics' and directors' polls of the greatest films ever made. This contrast is emphasized by the stance of the womentheir elevationin a sea of hatless, seated men. THE BICYCLE THIEF is the best of a group of films that depicted the hardship and despair that Europeans, specifically Italians, went through after the death and destruction of the war. Another is the univer-salization of the problem to a mythic dimension ("the poor are always This concept of women as being more proficient than society might expect is not a novel notion. 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