The Bicycle Thief
by Vittorio De Sica
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Enzo Staiola, Gino Saltamerenda, Lamberto Maggiorani, Lianella Carell, Vittorio AntonucciDirector: Vittorio De Sica
Brand: MAGGIORANI,LAMBERTO
Writer: Vittorio De Sica
Writer: Adolfo Franci
Writer: Cesare Zavattini
Writer: Gerardo Guerrieri
Writer: Luigi Bartolini
Writer: Oreste Biancoli
Writer: Suso Cecchi d'Amico
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; Italian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: Academy Ratio, 1.33:1
Running Time: 93 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1998-11-24
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Image Entertainment
Movie Reviews of The Bicycle Thief
Movie Review: All Emotion, Little Plot
Summary: 2 Stars
This wasn't what I expected. I guess I expected some surprising plot twists or deep insight into human desperation or modern society. That's what the reviews and the official trailer (contained on this disc) would have me believe. Well, there is plenty of footage of human desperation, but really nothing surprising or insightful. People don't have jobs, a bike gets stolen, and you get the impression by the end that maybe thievery isn't such a rare thing in that place. You could say that some parallels are drawn between people suffering on both sides of the law and in different situations. In an artsy way you might find that interesting. Probably the most interesting aspect of the movie is the way that emotions and body language are portrayed by the actors. It is very genuine, good acting. So, if you can just get into the raw emotions it's perhaps a little interesting, except that for the most part there is only one emotion: desperation.
The main problem I have is with the plot. Okay, so it's called "The Bicycle Thief," so you know that a bike gets stolen. I thought the movie would show perspectives of both the thief and the victim perhaps, or that there is more to the thief than just stealing bicycles. Well, you never get to learn much about the thief. I won't give any more away, but basically the plot goes nowhere. Nothing much happens until basically the very end and even then I found it anticlimactic. The ending is totally unresolved. Basically, I spent the whole movie feeling anxious for the main character, gritting my teeth hoping things turn out for the best, and after and hour-and-a-half all I got for my nervous hope was a screen saying "fine." It's not just that the ending doesn't turn out for the best, it doesn't turn out for the worst either. It just isn't satisfying and it didn't make me stand up and say "Whoa. That was incredibly deep!"
All that said, maybe the point of this film is to linger on the details of everyday life, rather than address what is ostensibly the plot. If you are interested in something that primarily glorifies the mundane details of life, then you may enjoy this.
Summary of The Bicycle Thief
A beautiful, simple story of a man in post-war Rome who needs his bicycle in order to work at his job. No sooner does he retrieve it from pawn, then it is stolen. The heartwrenching search teaches the man and his son much about the meaning of life and just how far we will go when pushed to the edge. Winner of a special Academy Award.Vittorio De Sica's remarkable 1947 drama of desperation and survival in Italy's devastating post-war depression earned a special Oscar for its affecting power. Shot in the streets and alleys of Rome, De Sica uses the real-life environment of contemporary life to frame his moving drama of a desperate father whose new job delivering cinema posters is threatened when a street thief steals his bicycle. Too poor to buy another, he and his son take to the streets in an impossible search for his bike. Cast with nonactors and filled with the real street life of Rome, this landmark film helped define the Italian neorealist approach with its mix of real life details, poetic imagery, and warm sentimentality. De Sica uses the wandering pair to witness the lives of everyday folks, but ultimately he paints a quiet, poignant portrait of father and son, played by nonprofessionals Lamberto Maggiorani and Enzo Staiola, whose understated performances carry the heart of the film. De Sica and scenarist Cesare Zavattini also collaborated on Shoeshine, Miracle in Milan, and Umberto D, all classics in the neorealist vein, but none of which approach the simple poetry and quiet power achieved in The Bicycle Thief. --Sean Axmaker
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