Bicycle Thieves (1948)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Admirable film.

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

In post-war Italy, a working-class man's bicycle is stolen. He and his son set out to find it. The Bicycle Thief is just another dull, boring and quite uninteresting film that just doesn't really reach any actual good dramatic levels or a story that would at least surpass it's flaws and give us something interesting and instead here we are again with a film simple enough and yet on screen it appears on a different kind of a scale and unfortunately it does not hold up at all both as a movie but also as a picture or a movie experience in general or whatever you wanna call it..

The movie "Bicycle Thieves" is a movie which was shot in Italy in 1946. I believe that this film was written and directed to be a very good movie, the actors who starred in this movie; Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, and Lianella Carell which are some of the few main actors. I feel as if they all fit their parts extremely well especially Lamberto Maggiorani who plays the part of Antonio, he is good at always changing his attitude to how it needs to be in the moment and also seems like he really enjoys what he does. characters who were chosen for the parts did a very good job with their positions in this film as well. This film has its ups and downs when it can occasionally be sad and slow but it seems to pick right back up not long after. The way the movie plays out definitely flows really well. For being shot such a long time ago, it was done nicely, it has a good camera quality and sounded really well. I enjoyed this movie because there isn't too much unnecessary stuff that goes on, they pretty much have it so you're never bored and things are always happening. There is some action and suspense in this film which keeps people interested and entertained. I highly recommend this film

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'.

'Bicycle Thieves' is a sometimes poignant film about the plight of the 'little man' who has no contacts, no influence, no money, no nothing'.I must admit that the extremely high esteem in which it is held leaves me slightly at a loss. Its themes of wealth and class are clear but they rarely evoked much emotion within me for Antonio - our protagonist and victim of the titular bicycle thieves - is rather dull. The one and only exception to this is when he gleefully indulges at a local restaurant with his son Bruno. Alas, the pleasure it brings them is fleeting.I felt a modicum of indignation here and a degree of pathos there, but ultimately, 'Bicycle Thieves' did not compel me. Certainly not compared to the gritty kitchen sink fare of the British New Wave some years later. Rather, I appreciated it as a cinematic artefact; an educational experience rather than an entertaining one.