Once voted the greatest film of all time, then for a long while out of fashion and more or less out of circulation, Cesare Zavattini and Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves is available out on DVD.
This is a great event, if only because the DVD release gives the lie to the widespread notion that Italian neo-realist films were grainy and ugly to look at. On the contrary, Bicycle Thieves was beautifully shot (on 35 mm Gevaert negative, if you want to know) and is altogether a beautiful film.
Its simple story of a man who can only get a job if he has a bike and whose bike is stolen on his first day at work is told economically but with great narrative tension. The acting, by the non-professionals and professionals alike, is wonderfully adapted to the needs of the drama.
But what impresses above all is the straightforward and unemphatic picture the film gives of everyday existence in the Italy of 1948, where poverty for most people was a fact of life and the efforts of politicians and charities to alleviate it ineffective it at best.
It is clear enough where the film-makers’ political sympathies lie, too far left for the government at the time but not far enough for the young radicals of the next generation. But, like everything else in the film, the politics are worn lightly. There is comedy too, to alleviate the weight of supposedly solemn realism.
Watching it now, it is easy to see both why the film was once so highly rated and why it fell out of favour. For modern viewers it inevitably has the air of a period piece, but fifty years on this has become a strength. Bicycle Thieves may no longer be the world as it is, but very vividly it is the world as it was.
Audio Commentary by Robert Gordon, Italian cinema expert and author of Bicycle Thieves (BFI Film Classics)
'Cesare Zavattini' a feature length documentary by director Carlo Lizzani on the great screenwriter, novelist, critic, long time De Sica collaborator and founder of Italian neorealism
'Timeless Cinema', a documentary portrait of director, actor and screenwriter Vittorio De Sica
Original Trailer
Booklet including brand new writing on the film and a reprint of Cesare Zavattini's 'Some Ideas on the Cinema', illustrated with original Lobby Cards and stills.
Film Description
A simple yet profoundly moving story of one man's struggle for employment and self-respect. The raw and frequently heart-wrenching performances from amateurs Maggiorani and Staiola give the film a natural quality which, along with the underlying social criticism, resulted in an unforgettable milestone film that won an Honorary Academy Award for 'most outstanding foreign film' in 1950.
By using untrained actors, natural lighting, a straightforward plot and outdoors filming, the director Vittorio de Sica and writer Cesare Zavattini created one of the ... more >
By using untrained actors, natural lighting, a straightforward plot and outdoors filming, the director Vittorio de Sica and writer Cesare Zavattini created one of the best films ever made and an exceptional representation of Italian Neo-Realism.
Italian Neo-Realism emerged in Italy towards the end of the Second World War. Its main characteristics were the representation of everyday life; a style of shooting that endeavoured to depict reality and the use of ordinary people instead of professional actors.
The film focuses on Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani), an unemployed man who has been offered a job that requires a bicycle. On his first day at work, the bicycle is stolen and Antonio, accompanied by his young son Bruno (Enzo Staiola) is forced to embark upon an anxious search for his stolen bicycle.
By using unique filming techniques and delivering an extremely simple yet truly engaging plot, De Sica makes the viewer aware of the contemporaneous socio-economic reality of post-war Italy. Moreover, the excellent performances of the untrained actors enable viewers to vividly experience the desperation and raw emotions of the inhabitants of post-war Italy.
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Bicycle Thieves is Vittorio De Sica’s most celebrated film and one of the key works of the neo-realist movement, a deceptively simple tale of a working class family ma... more >
Bicycle Thieves is Vittorio De Sica’s most celebrated film and one of the key works of the neo-realist movement, a deceptively simple tale of a working class family man, Antonio Ricci, struggling to make ends meet. His joy and relief at finally obtaining a job bill posting after a period of unemployment is shattered when his bicycle, crucial to his job and only recently rescued from the pawn shop, is stolen on the very first day of his new post. A fruitless search for the bike with his young son Bruno ensues, which serves as a powerful visual chronicle of the humiliating effects of unemployment in post-war Rome and the alienation of proletarian life. De Sica shows ironic tenderness for his characters, observing humanity with sympathetic compassion but without illusion. This wonderful movie remains compelling and moving in equal measure. Once a fixture in all-time top ten polls, Bicycle Thieves has been unfairly neglected in recent years, yet it remains one of the great post war films and essential viewing. < less
