Bicycle Thieves (1948)

Tomorrow's movie (or more technically tonight's movie as it's after midnight) will be the Italian film Bicycle Thieves.

REVIEW:

Bicycle Thieves tells the story of post-war Italy and a poor family. The husband gets a job but needs his bike. His bike is stolen and he attempts to get it back with the help of his son.

Anyways, the plot isn't the most action-packed plot you'll ever see, but it doesn't need to be. There's more to this than a plot. There's no fancy explosions or anything like that either. It's a simple, realistic story. There's nothing special about the characters and they could be anyone else. That's what makes this film good.

The actors in this film aren't actually actors. The director, Vittorio De Sica, chose people off the streets. The movie's lead actor, Lamberto Maggiorani, was actually a factory worker. Despite no experience in acting prior to this film, the actors all do a very good job. This film wasn't about fancy acting, it was about portraying real people. What better people to do that than real people?

In 1952, the Sight and Sound poll called this film the greatest film ever made. That is no longer their opinion, but it is still in their top-10. The film deals with several key themes such as defeat, poverty, and humiliation. This is perhaps the best-known example of Italian neorealism. While the title Ladri di biciclette should be translated as Bicycle Thieves this film is occasionally called The Bicycle Thief. For those that have seen the movie, that second title is not accurate.

A final thought on this film deals with the ending. I was told this was a very depressing film so I was imagining a different type of ending. While the ending isn't exactly uplifting, it didn't feature anyone's death like I was anticipating. There's nothing wrong with the ending, it's actually quite good, but I thought I'd mention that.

This film of course was never rated by the MPAA. There's nothing terribly offensive about it. It may swear a couple times and the theme is rather dark so it might not be appropriate for the youngest of viewers. Still, this is suitable for people of just about any age. PG.

83.5
B

UP NEXT: We'll continue with foreign films this time moving to France for Les Diaboliques.

Haha, well maybe it's just me... But I thought it was extremely sad. Just the way the relationship with his son played out, and how nothing ever pans out for the poor guy. I think it was just the guy in general I really felt for - and that's important in a movie. I watched U-571 and had no care for any of the characters so I really didn't care if/when they died... But this guy just tried so hard with nothing to show for it.

ScubatheHooD wrote:

Haha, well maybe it's just me... But I thought it was extremely sad. Just the way the relationship with his son played out, and how nothing ever pans out for the poor guy. I think it was just the guy in general I really felt for - and that's important in a movie. I watched U-571 and had no care for any of the characters so I really didn't care if/when they died... But this guy just tried so hard with nothing to show for it.

I agree with that assessment. I did feel bad for him as the movie went along and you could sympathize with him. I was given the preview of the movie being really depressing and assumed that meant someone was going to die. When the mob didn't kill him the sad ending was different than the one I expected.

Still, a great movie and the more I reflect on it the better it seems. I'm definitely going to have to watch this again.