1948 ‘Ladri di biciclette’ Directed by Vittorio De Sica
Antonio, an unemployed man in the depressed post-WWII economy of Italy, at last finds a good job hanging up posters, the only requirement for which is that he must have his own bicycle. When Antonio’s bicycle is stolen, he and his son are forced to walk the streets of Rome in search of it, or else face ruin.
Lamberto Maggiorani Enzo Staiola Lianella Carell Elena Altieri Gino Saltamerenda Giulio Chiari Vittorio Antonucci Michele Sakara Carlo Jachino Emma Druetti Giulio Battiferri Sergio Leone Mario Meniconi Checco Rissone Peppino Spadaro Nando Bruno Eolo Capritti Memmo Carotenuto Umberto Spadaro Fausto Guerzoni
Vittorio De Sica Cesare Zavattini Suso Cecchi d'Amico Luigi Bartolini Oreste Biancoli Adolfo Franci Gerardo Guerrieri Gherardo Gherardi
The Bicycle Thieves, The Bicycle Thief, Крадії велосипедів, Fietsendieven, Cykeltjuven
It’s been years since a film has moved me to tears. But if there’s one film that can melt even the most stone-hearted of viewers, it is Bicycle Thieves. I can’t quite explain what it’s about because I don’t know, really. It follows a man named Antonio, thin as a scarecrow, as he tries to make a living. He needs a bicycle for the job he is lucky enough to get, but his bicycle gets stolen, and he roams the city trying to get it back, his little son dragging along behind him.
But Bicycle Thieves isn’t about that bicycle, really. It’s about fathers and sons, about the way the poor steal from each other because somebody else steals from…
Lamberto Maggiorani (who plays the lead role of Antonio) was laid off from his job as a factory worker shortly after the film was complete. The factory required budget cuts and decided to fire Maggiorani because everyone assumed he was a millionaire movie star when he actually made only 600,000 lira (a little over 30,000 US dollars today, counting inflation). He pretty much spent the rest of his life as a bricklayer desperately trying but failing to land more acting gigs; even de Sica wouldn’t rehire him. Eventually, he died poor, having never regained the success of his first role.
And that is more depressing than the entire film.
100
Oh so graceful. Lingering to the touch. A window of endless compassion and perspective. De Sica fluidly portrays individual hardship against the apathetic noise of the collective only to meld its "singular" journey into a systemic reality. Hand and hand, we walk.
I stole a bicycle once. I tried explaining to the cops that I was merely paying homage to post-war Italian neorealism.
Bruno's face.
The way he trips.
How he grabs his father's hand.
And how they just keep going...
And I'm crying and smiling,
I've been destroyed once again.
Bicycle Thieves is a naturalistic, at times hilarious, but ultimately devastating and grim tale that's as timeless as the immense humanity it possesses. Lauded as one of the best movies in history, Bicycle Thieves deserves every bit of its universal acclaim, by demonstrating filmmaking in its most pure, stripped down form.
Bicycle Thieves is a simple story of a father-son duo looking for a stolen bike so the father doesn't lose his job. It's obviously a microscopic exploration of the post-War Italian society, where unemployment pushed the poor to their limits, or at least to false God for comfort. Director Vittorio De Sica's decision to cast amateurs wonderfully paid off, as Lamberto Maggiorani and Enzo Staiola's deceivingly capable performances perfectly…
Humorous, poignant and heartbreaking, capturing the spirit of post-war Italy as tentatively hopeful but constantly verging on collapse. How can honesty survive inside this dim and turbulent environment where morality hinders prosperity? Through a grounded and gripping tale of a man desperate to retrieve his stolen bike, the film makes a lasting social statement, a powerful expression about the incongruous natures of humanity and society in the most graceful, delicate and honest fashion.
Featuring amateur actors in starring roles, shot in real locations with no studio sets & using only natural light to capture its drama, Bicycle Thieves (also known as Ladri di Biciclette) is one of the finest & most influential films to come out from Italian Cinema and is amongst the first films that brought neorealism into the world of motion picture filmmaking.
Set in poverty-stricken Rome in post-World War II Italy, the story of Bicycle Thieves concerns a poor father who's scavenging for any kind of work to support his family. Having secured a job after selling his precious possessions to buy a bicycle which is required to carry out the work, the future looks promising but his whole world is turned…
