Vittorio De Sica’s 1948 classic Bicycle Thieves is a prime example of Italian Neo-Realism. The genre, which spanned a short ten or so year period during the 1940s and 1950s, highlighted life of ordinary, working class (and often impoverished) individuals who were dealing with the stresses of day to day life in Italy during or shortly after World War 2. Previously, Italian filmmakers had had their artistic scope and perspective limited by the fascist government of Benito Mussolini (for more than twenty years) and this style of motion picture was a reaction to it. Filmed in a semi-documentary fashion (typically on a low budget), the streets of Rome and other cities were used instead of the safety of studios to depict relevant social themes of otherwise common people.
Director Vittorio De Sica concocts a film with simple grace, excruciating loneliness, dutifulness to one’s family and a powerfully realistic portrayal of a father and son relationship. The story follows Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani), a man who is struggling to support his wife and two children. He has been out of work for quite some time, yet is finally given a sliver of hope when he is offered a job affixing advertising posters throughout Rome (as long as he has a bike). He takes the position, despite the fact that he had to pawn his bicycle to feed his nearly starving family. He promptly finds his wife Maria (Lianella Carell) and explains the quandary. The woman was so desperate, she had even visited an oracle-type woman to find out if he would ever find work (the seer said that he would). Her only solution to solve the matter is to sell all of their linens, which will give them just enough money to buy back the vital mode of transportation.
This job provides Antonio with a semblance of hope that he has not had in some time. After a brief demonstration of how to do the job, he rides out with the posters, a ladder and a can of glue. Upon his first posting, a group of thieves steal his bicycle, and though he attempts to follow, his two feet are no match for the speed of the fleeing bicyclist. A mixture of pain, shock and anger set in as the man reports the crime to the police (who basically tell him that they will do nothing and that he should try to find it himself).
Antonio sets out the next morning with his young son Bruno (Enzo Staiola) and a group of friends to search through the numerous street merchants, hoping that they will spot the stolen item. To no avail, the father and son journey to another group of vendors at the other end of town. After a major rainstorm hits, the duo huddle along the side of a building where Antonio sees his bike in the hands of a young man (who exchanges money with a slovenly looking older gent).
They follow him to a church service where the impoverished can pick up a meal and a shave after they’ve attended the mass. Antonio tries to pull him out of the ornate building, but is hindered by the patrons of the cathedral.
After being a bit rough on his son, he decides to take him out for pizza so that they can forget their troubles for awhile – yet they stand out as being of a lower class compared to the mostly upper-middle class clientele, which only reminds the man and his boy of their problems.
Antonio, out of options, goes to the seer that his wife visited earlier in the film. She tells him that “you’ll find the bike today, or not at all”. Upon leaving the abode, Antonio spots the thief. Grabbing him, his son then hunts for a police officer and the young offender conveniently has a fainting fit, drawing a mob of neighbours out to defend their friend. The policeman arrives and they search the family home to no avail. After being advised to forget about it by the officer, as there is no proof and the throng of people are not taking kindly to him, the man walks away dejectedly.
In a moment of temptation, Antonio gazes around the outside of a football stadium to see an unimaginable number of bikes. People are riding, hundreds are parked outside of the arena and one sits on a side street unattended. He tells his son to return home via the streetcar, yet the boy misses it and stands on the street watching his father. Will Antonio fall prey to his frustratingly confused and agitated state – leading him to steal the bicycle in front of his son’s wide eyes, or will his conscience get the better of him?
The first thing that stands out in Bicycle Thieves is the wonderful casting of Lamberto Maggiorani and Enzo Staiola by director De Sica. Both non-professional actors (a staple of neo-realist films), Maggiorani was a factory worker, while De Sica had spotted Staiola on the streets and followed him home. He arranged to hold some auditions right in front of the boy’s home. When he saw him again, he knew that Staiola was his Bruno. Both ‘father’ and ‘son’ do an excellent job. De Sica is able to evoke the right emotion from each of the actors, using Maggiorani’s drawn face and Staiola’s wide, vivid eyes to capture the emotion of the powerful tale. They are utterly believable as a father and son.
Bicycle Thieves is a simple tale that packs a powerful emotional punch. Stressing more on the relationship between father and son as well as the social issues that impact the impoverished family over a complex plot, De Sica moves from one vignette to another, showcasing the stressed duo in the grand city of Rome, with all of its opulence and issues. It is not surprising that it won an honorary Oscar as voted on by the Academy Board of Governors as the most outstanding foreign language film, as well as taking home best foreign film at the Golden Globes. It is also consistently placed on lists that feature the best motion pictures of all time (sometimes even taking top spot). So, hopefully I don’t have to peddle this one too hard, it should sell itself.