Bicycle Thieves
Director: Vittorio De Sica
28 December 2022
See
Her: Bicycle Thieves by Vittorio de Sica, 1948. The film that started a new wave of post war cinema in Italy called Neorealism.
Him: Bicycle Thieves directed by Vittorio De Sice, tells the story of post-war Italy and Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani) who gets a job putting up posters that requires a bicycle as condition of employment.
Think
Her: Stories that neorealists depicted in their films are always simple and relatable: like the characters of their films, filmmakers at the time had no resources to make their films, they worked with non-professional actors, used real spaces and the cheapest equipment they could find. Nevertheless, this movie feels wholesome and doesn’t give away the lack of resources. On the contrary, it embraces it – under the careful supervision and impeccable direction of Vittorio de Sica.
Him: Tension builds knowing how down on his luck Antonio is and manages to get a bike only for it to be taken from him, along with the good life he could see. The kind he shows his son Bruno (Enzo Staiola) in the complete opposite way from Life is Beautiful. Yet the rich vs poor divide and the sanctity of class and etiquette is heightened here.
Feel
Her: It is hard to believe that the main character are played by non-professional actors. The climactic scene where Anthonio is trying to psych himself up to commit a crime breaks my heart every time. He fails, or rather gets caught but then released, only to receive the worst punishment of all – the disappointment of his son who witnessed the crime. Neorealists didn’t aim to create heroes, their ambition was to show the real picture of the post-war generation and their struggles. Their films are anything else but epic. But I’d much rather that than watching some of the modern day directors skillfully waste hundreds of millions of dollars to create another long piece of useless glossy vom.
Him: When it comes to the final act of desperation it was upsetting because you see what a regular man was driven to. Yet he can’t do it well because crime isn’t in him, like those who trespassed against him. Seeing Antonio diminished in Bruno’s eyes was overwhelming with emotion. Afterwards I realised there’s something more to Italian cinema I hadn’t previously appreciated.
