Ladri di biciclette

Plot synopsis:
The film tells the story of Antonio Ricci, an unemployed man in the depressed post-World War II economy of Italy. With no money and a wife and two children to support, he is desperate for work. He is delighted to at last get a good job hanging up posters, but on the sole condition that he has a bicycle which must be used for work. He is told unequivocally: "No bicycle, no job." His wife Maria pawns their bedsheets in order to get money to redeem his bicycle from the pawnbroker.Early on in the film, Ricci's coveted bicycle is stolen by a bold young thief who snatches it when he is hanging up a poster.Antonio thinks that the police will take the theft very seriously, but they are not really interested in the petty theft of a bike. The only option is for Antonio and his friends to walk the streets of Rome themselves, looking for the bicycle. After trying for hours with no luck, they finally give up and leave.Desperate for leads and with his better judgement clouded, Antonio even visits the dubious backstreet fortune teller that he had earlier mocked, in the hope that she may be able to shed light upon the bike's whereabouts. However, she merely doles out to him one of the truisms that form her stock in trade: "you'll find the bike quickly, or not at all." Feeling cheated, a crestfallen Antonio hands over to her some of the last money that they have. After a rare treat of a meal in a restaurant, Antonio admits to his son that if he isn't able to work, they will simply starve.Antonio finally manages to locate the thief (who, it seems, had already sold the bicycle) and Bruno slips off to summon the police to the apartment. Antonio meanwhile, angrily accuses the thief of stealing his bike but the boy denies all knowledge of the crime. When the policeman arrives, he sees the accused boy lying on the floor feigning a seizure and surrounded by irate neighbours who blame Antonio's accusations for causing the "innocent" boy's fit.The policeman tells Antonio that although he may have seen the boy stealing the bike, he did not catch the thief red-handed, nor has he any witnesses and that Antonio making an accusation is not good enough. With no proof and with the thief's neighbours willing to give him a false alibi, he abandons his cause. Antonio walks away from the house in despair, as the thief's neighbours follow, jeering at him about his lost bicycle.At the end of the film in one of the most resonant scenes, Antonio is sitting on the curb outside the packed football stadium. He looks at the hundreds and hundreds of bicycles that are parked outside the stadium and as he cradles his head in despair, a fleet of bicycles mockingly speeds past him.After vacillating for some time about whether to steal one for himself, he decides he has no other option but to snatch one that he spots outside an apartment. Unluckily, he is seen taking the bike and caught by a crowd of angry men who slap and humiliate him in front of his son. Ironically, this time with an army of witnesses who catch him, he is frogmarched off to the police station but after seeing how upset Bruno is, the owner of the bicycle declines to press charges.The film ends with the man and his son, sad and let down from what has just happened, they walk along in a crowd, leaving us with a dim outlook for the two. Holding hands, they are both reduced to tears.

Tags: paranormal, romantic, bleak

Review:
"The Bicycle Thief" was originally released in 1948 and won an Honorary Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film the following year (the movie was not released in the U.S. until 1949).
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.
A simple thing such as a bike can be someone's entire world at that time and losing it means doing something irrational or perhaps necessary.The lead in the film is played by Lamberto Maggiorani who seems to be a very good actor.
Rita Hayworth from GILDA is on the walls all over the city, a sign of joy to some, a representation of their own lowly status to others.When the bicycle is actually stolen, the "title" character is sought after by Maggiorani and his young son (Enzo Staiola), a little kid with so much acting ability, you swear this must be a documentary.
A grueling search throughout Rome has the essential parts of the movie, because we see up close the actual people and places the neo-realist film movement came to represent.
These are the tense moments of the film's climax.There is a lot of THE BICYCLE THIEF in Benigni's LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL and some obvious comparisons have been drawn because of the father-son relationship.
In order to keep the job, he and his young son walk around Rome, desperate to find the thief, and more importantly, the bicycle before his next day of work.
Vittorio De Sica's ground/heartbreaking motion picture, The Bicycle Thief, is based on a very simple ideal for a story- man against the elements.
In this case the elements are of a society that is often cruel and unforgiving, and that a job in post-war Rome is looked on as the luckiest of good luck charms.Such a man as presented by De Sica is Maggiorani (an actor who really is the type of actor right off the street), a father of a little boy who gets a job putting up movie posters along some walls in Rome.
Now, without it, he and his son search the crowded streets of Rome for the only thing that can give him back his dignity as a man.This is a simple, but very powerful film and I found the relationship between Bruno and his father especially touching.
In the post-war Rome, after more than two-year unemployment, the family man Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani) finally finds a disputed job position putting up posters that requires having a bicycle.
Antonio and his son Bruno (Enzo Staiola) spend the Sunday chasing the bicycle and the thief on the streets of Rome."Ladri di Biciclette" is a heartbreaking masterpiece of the Italian Neo- Realism and one of the best movies of cinema history ever.
Bicycle Thieves is an Italian neo-realist film by Vittorio De Sica.
The loss of the bicycle is for Antonio and his family an immense tragedy, their dreams of a better life are stolen; like every time we lose something or is taken away which could prevent from poverty and sufferance.
It is in these magnificent films that we best see and know ourselves and feel relate to other people beyond the simple psychology of social provenience – it's just a film, but by watching it we look up on the most beautiful reflector of excellence and come close a little more to the understanding on how to become better persons; in both the arts and reality, it is an act of love.
The actors are literally amateurs and look and sound the part.Yes, this movie can bring emotion and frustration as the feeble man and his son search desperately for the bike.
But I have to say, I didn't really think Bicycle Thieves was as good as the critics have rated it, or good enough to be on one of the all-time greatest films list.There's nothing bad about the film though, it's a unique story about a family in war-time Italy and the struggles that everyone went through in finding a job at that time.
But I did get a little bit of that Life is Beautiful vibe from their relationship at times, that much I liked.The problem with the film is that I didn't care enough about the characters to feel something when the going got rough.
The Bicycle Thief is classic piece of mid-20th century Italian film-making by veteran workhorse director Vittorio De Sica.
"The Bicycle Thief" is most certainly a serious film about poverty and desperation, and perhaps it was strikingly dramatic at the time it was made - but I do not regard it as a truly great film because the characters do not come alive for me at all.
While infusing a beautiful depiction of post-war Italy with the bitter tale of a man struggling to survive, Ladri Di Biciclette is a perfect example of neo-realist film.
The grim reality of post-war Italian life is immediately apparent in this film, as a group of unemployed men all crowd around in the morning, desperate to have their name called out for possible job opportunities.
The feeling is magnified when director Vittorio De Sica shows us a huge rack of pawned items early on, and later in that brilliant crowd scene at the end, both of which made me think that this is just one story of many, that there is so much suffering in tough times, and most of it we're completely unaware of.
BICYCLE THIEVES has gone down in film history as a classic for its ability to transport the viewer effortlessly to a different time and place: to post-war Italy, blighted by poverty and restrictions on general life, where the mere possession of an ordinary push bike is the difference between life and death for an ordinary family.The film follows a father and his kid as they pursue the thief who has stolen the father's bicycle.
There are other (Italian) movies that make me bawl more while watching them, but Vittorio De Sica's supremely downbeat Bicycle Thieves can hold its own in a "I'll never laugh again" kind of way.
So far my look into Italian cinema has been awful to say the least (The Titanic Animated movies and Troll 2 were the only Italian films I have seen before this) I wanted to know what the best of their cinema is like because I have clearly seen the worst.The plot is that a man named Antonio Ricci found a job that was very difficult to get in those times.
A comi- tragedy as opposed to a tragi-comedy, it has a very simple but well delineated narrative, with an ending of rare pathos and sadness.To watch this honest, hard-working and well-meaning family man brought down by wretched luck to the extent where in an act of desperation he debases himself in front of his adoring son, is almost like intruding on private grief.
Earlier on in the film, before the father loses all hope in changing his fortunes, there are some nice comedic touches, with the young son "caught short" at one point and later when the father blunders into a brothel in pursuit of the bicycle thief, with his infant son in tow.This was my first experience of Italian neo-realism and while I more usually prefer some escapism with my movies, I was quite absorbed in the story here as it unravelled with an inevitable certainty which could never end up well, indeed I guessed that the father was going to lower his scruples by stealing a bike himself, long before he actually did.Yes, it does have some longueurs and the landscape of post-war Italy as well as a full understanding of the Italian psyche was difficult for me to naturally relate to, but the universal themes of honesty, self-respect, human dignity and of course father-son relationships shone through.The open-air cinematography was excellent, the background music was sympathetic to the action and the acting unsurprisingly wholly natural, engaging and involving, given that most of the participants were amateurs.
The young lad playing the son, in particular gives the best performance by a child actor I think I've ever seen.For my tastes, I wouldn't include it in my list of favourite films, but can certainly appreciate its qualities and why it's so beloved of critics and cinema-lovers alike..
In that respect Bicycle Thieves quite clearly differs from many other Italian neo-realist movies like Ossessione, because it does not directly criticise the capitalist system, instead preferring to remain ambiguous and leaving the audience to arrive at their own conclusions about the fate of Antonio and Bruno (the most lovable and sympathetic father-and-son pairing I've ever seen on film, I hasten to add) and of Italian society in general.
This film was one of the greatest films to come out of the Italian "neo-realist" movement.An unemployed man is given a job putting up posters, however a condition of his employment is that he needs a bicycle, eventually he manages to buy one from a pawn shop, but on his first day at work it's stolen and thus the man and his young son begin a desperate search through the back streets of Rome to find the missing bicycle.The film (shot entirely on location with non-professional actors) highlights the grim economic realities of post-war Rome.
On the first day of the job his bicycle is stolen, the rest of the film follows as Antonio and his son Bruno search the streets and interact with many sects of the Italian public shining a light onto the life of Italians.The film is not grandiose and is often simple and understated, the acting feels natural.
The relationship between man and country, and father and son are the core of the film and are well written and performed.Worth watching if you have the interest and time to put towards a well constructed and thought provoking look at Italian life post-war..
Lamberto Maggiorani as Antonio, the father, Enzo Staiola as Bruno, his eight year old son, and Lianella Carell as Maria, his wife, are very believable and natural from start to finish.The story is a very simple one about a man who depends upon a bicycle for the very livelihood of his family in a post-war Rome that is plagued by rampant unemployment and poverty.
Set in Italy after the second world war, Bicycle thieves is an example of Neo-Realism Italian cinema, looking at broken Italy and its broken people trying to survive in poverty.From the opening shot we can see Antonio Ricci as lost all hope.
He finally has hope.This hopes come crashing down when his bicycle is stolen by an opportunistic thief and he searches all over Rome with his son Bruno looking for the bike and thief.Antonio gets increasingly desperate in the search for his bike, by the end he is humiliated and fatalistic.
Antonio explains to him how important this job was and the money he was going to make meaning he could afford treats like this for the family.Antonio may not had been good in his job but the film explored the men who were marginalized in Italian working class society and it was their wives who had to be practical in order for the families to survive.This is a raw film it is not an easy watch, you suffer as Antonio goes on his fruitless search and you will him to steal a nearby bike and just ride off..
In this movie we have a man with his little son who is trying really hard to get his bicycle back from the thief that he stole it but in his path he finds many difficulties.I really liked this movie because of the emotions that it gave and because I believe it represents something that is true.
About the interpretations I have to say that I was amazed from the interpretation of Lamberto Maggiorani who was played as Antonio Ricci and he was simply outstanding and I also liked the interpretation of the little one Enzo Staiola who played as Bruno Ricci his son.Finally I have to say that "The Bicycle Thief" is a great movie and is a must see movie because it shows us and give us to understand that we have to fight for a better life.
Plot: In the times of great depression--post WWII--a poor man searches for his stolen bicycle without which he won't be able to retain his new job.It is an economically unstable time and an average family is barely scraping a living.
A man has his bicycle stolen away from him and spends the next day with his son trying desperately to find it.A simple story in a sobering look at depression era/post war Italy.
So powerful in it's simplicity, The Bicycle Thief is not only a standout human drama but also the best possible look at life in post war Rome and the human misery among it's lower classes.Director Vittorio De Sica chose to film in the crowded streets of Rome and use non professional actors to capture the mood appropriately.
The scene in the end where the father has given up hope and resorts to desperate measures is not easily forgotten and the simple look the boy gives him is the most pure moment I've ever seen.I doubt The Bicycle Thief will leave many viewers untouched..
With the recent Life is Beautiful as the only popular example of recent Italian cinema, De Sica's The Bicycle Thief is a startling surprise, with its brutal realism and strong undertones of desperation.
In The Bicycle Thief, where people are so destitute that they would pawn off their bed sheets in hopes of employment, the most poignant aspect of the film, as seen in the final harrowing scene, shows how humanity triumphs over any material shortcomings..
THE BICYCLE THIEVES is an Italian "Neo-realist" film--so called because it used real people in rather ordinary situations.
Some see these as anti-Hollywood but the actual reason for them was that after the war, the Italian film industry was in ruin and they were practically broke, so making these simple films about simple people was a natural outgrowth, though some of the groundwork for this style began during the war.The story itself is about a poor man who is out of work but is finally able to secure a job using his bicycle.
The story is good, a man and his son hopelessly looking for a stolen bicycle in Rome.
In post-World War II Italy, poverty-stricken Lamberto Maggiorani (as Antonio Ricci) gets a job pasting up posters, but only if he has a bicycle to get around town.
Then, joined by sensitive young son Enzo Staiola (as Bruno), Maggiorani desperately searches the streets of Rome for "The Bicycle Thief".
His Bicycle Thieves is a lean film, utilizing the suffocating poverty of Italy in its post-war era as a defining factor.Lamberto Maggiorani stars as Antonio Ricci, a poor father and husband looking for work.
He is elated, as you might imagine, and becomes overjoyed at the prospects of earning money to help lift his family out of abject poverty.One day, while working at his job of posting Rita Hayworth posters in Rome, Ricci has his bicycle stolen.
With his son, Bruno (Enzo Staiola), he traipses through Rome in all conditions to track and hopefully recover his bicycle.Watching Maggiorani, who was a factory worker and not a trained actor of any kind, put life into Ricci is an astounding experience.
Even though the film is about the fathers job & stolen bicycle the movie follows the young 5 year old son & the boys reaction to all the things that happen that Sunday afternoon when he & his father go about Rome trying to find the fathers stolen bicycle.
The difficulties and despair faced by a father and son in searching for a stolen bicycle are a profound embodiment of the challenges faced by so many others in a time of great poverty.An incredibly expressive lead performance by Lamberto Maggiorani, a non-professional actor, lends a voice to the hope and frustration of a generation.
Alas, on his first day his bike gets stolen; from here on the film follows the Antonio and his son's search for the bike.The Bicycle Thief is certainly not an upbeat film; rather it is a depressing slice of honest realism of how cruel the world really is.
"The Bicycle Thief" was filmed entirely on the streets of Rome, has no major movie stars in it, and includes no special effects.
Set during the aftermath of post war Italy, it tells the story of a poor working class father that just wants a job so he can support his family.
The film is a universal story about a working class man that simply wants a job to better his families lives, and despite all his best efforts his desperation turns him towards corruption.The film is held up wonderfully by the two main performances from the father Antonio(Lamberto Maggiorani) who gives a heart-wrenching performance as man close to breaking down, and his son Bruno(Enzo Staiola) who gives a stand-out performance.
To me everything in this film is perfect – the performances are splendid and very true to life and the story is simple but wonderful.In the center of the movie is a story about Antonio Ricci – a men living in poor Rome neighborhood, who acquires a bicycle to get a job posting film posters in the city, to support his family.
Looking at just one family during this period, the film follows the breadwinner Antonio Ricci (Maggiorani) around town as he tries to find his stolen bicycle.
De Sica, however, subverts viewers expectations with a fundamentally flawed character, Antonio (played by Lamberto Maggiorani) – Mr Everyday Ordinary Italian Citizen – who, after having his bike stolen, desperately searches his neighborhood over a weekend to find it – and dragging his young son Bruno (Enzi Staiola) along with him as helper...