Bicycle Thieves (De Sica, 1948)

After watching the very deliberate theatrics of The Philadelphia Story, Citizen Kane, and Double Indemnity, the style of Bicycle Thieves might seem almost too real. Vittorio De Sica blurs the line between banal and profound seamlessly in the defining film of the Italian Neorealism genre. This film is one of my personal favorites because of its realistic nature.

How realistic is Bicycle Thieves? Should all movies be like this?

Unlike most movies, this Italian Neorealism motion picture ignores the blissful utopia common in Hollywood. Instead, it opts for a more pessimistic outlook towards life. As average filmgoers, most people expect Antonio and Bruno Ricci to find the bike. In fact, most of you probably expected that the bicycle would be found. However, the truth of reality is this - in a city as large as Rome, it remains virtually impossible to find something as normal as a bike ever again. Did you expect him to find the bike? Was it an interesting way to end the movie, going against the tide by having the hero lose in the end?

While the finale does leave the viewer unsatisfied, I find the part where Antonio takes Bruno to the restaurant even more disturbing. He tries to lighten the mood for his son, and make it seem like everything will be alright. But next to the rich family, not even Bruno can shake the feeling of hopelessness. It's a sad state of affairs that they find themselves in. What part stuck out to you the most?

Vittorio De Sica is one of Italy's most celebrated filmmakers. He began as an actor in the 1920's before moving to directing on the onset of World War II. He created comedies during the early '40's, and many critics applauded his unique direction of actors, especially children. After the war ended, De Sica switched to dramas in an effort to expose the torn-down nature of his beloved country. He aptly depicted poverty with Bicycle Thieves and Shoeshine, and was subsequently chosen as the recipient of a special Academy Award for his work in Italian Neorealism (before the Best Foreign Language Picture existed). Despite his later failures, the Academy, generally not known for their acknowledgement of other countries, gave De Sica several more nominations and special awards during his career.

What does that say about American audiences? Why do you think they responded so well to De Sica's work?

De Sica did not build a Rome set for Bicycle Thieves. Everything in the film really exists in the city. Nothing was filmed on a studio lot, and none of the actors were professionals. Most of them were complete novices, and Enzo Staiola (who played Bruno) was a young boy who was just helping his father sell flowers when he caught De Sica's eye. How do you feel about this style of filmmaking? Is it a movie, or is it something more akin to a fictional documentary?

The picture is also very humble - Antonio is a very relatable character in terms of everyday struggles, and he spends the duration of the film attempting to find something he desperately needs. All Antonio wants is to have a job, something most of us take for granted. Antonio needs income to provide for his family, and is willing to do anything to achieve his goals, even selling the sheets off his bed to make a few bucks.

Bicycle Thieves is a horribly sad motion picture. It foregoes the hopefulness and utopian promises of the film industry, and instead incorporates a bleak outlook on life. For this reason, the film did not do well in Italy in 1948. Many citizens of the country found the film to be stereotypically negative of Italians, and many were upset with the lack of escapism in the picture. However, elsewhere in the world, the movie was universally acclaimed for its neorealism and human emotion. Upon further evaluation in Italy, the movie was praised, and became a huge success.

Despite Bicycle Thieves' depressing nature, this movie is consistently ranked among the greatest of all time, mostly on foreign film lists. In fact, it landed on the Vatican's list of Best Films, for portraying "strong human values." Why does it stand the test of time, through all economic booms and hardships?

Lastly, it is important to return to the most fundamental question about the movie industry: should we continue making escapist entertainment in such a harsh world, or is there something to be said about creating realistic pictures? Should all movies be like Bicycle Thieves? (Interestingly enough, we get a glimpse of the other side of the coin with next week's picture, Singin' in the Rain).