Q:Build a movie plot around this: Why is Antonnio so desperate to find work? He needs to support his wife, son, and baby.
A:
In the post-World War II Val Melaina neighbourhood of Rome, Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani) is desperate for work to support his wife Maria (Lianella Carell), his son Bruno (Enzo Staiola), and his small baby. He is offered a position posting advertising bills, but tells Maria that he cannot accept because the job requires a bicycle. Maria resolutely strips the bed of her dowry bedsheetsprized possessions for a poor familyand takes them to the pawn shop, where they bring enough to redeem Antonio's pawned bicycle. (A memorable shot shows the sheets being added to a mountain of bedding pawned by other families.) They cycle homeMaria on the crossbarrejoicing in their good fortune. Along the way, Maria insists that she has to visit someone. Antonio discovers that it is a seer who had prophesied that Antonio would find work; Maria gives the seer money in appreciation of her prophecy. Antonio is derisive of Maria's faith in the seer, and teases her about spending money on such foolishness.On his first day of work Antonio is atop a ladder when a young man (Vittorio Antonucci) snatches the bicycle. Antonio gives chase but is thrown off the trail by the thief's confederates. The police take a report but warn that there is little they can do. Advised that stolen goods often surface at the Piazza Vittorio market, Antonio goes there with several friends and his small son Bruno. Finding a bike that might be Antonio's they summon an officer, but the serial numbers do not match.At the Porta Portese market Antonio and Bruno spot the thief with an old man. They pursue the thief but he eludes them. They then accost the old man demanding the thief's identity, but the old man feigns ignorance. They follow him into a church where, after disrupting the service, he slips away from them. Bruno shows dismay after this defeat, which angers Antonio, who in turn slaps his son, greatly upsetting the boy.Antonio has Bruno wait by a bridge and goes in search of the old man. Suddenly there are cries...