Bicycle Thieves

Film: Bicycle Thieves (1948, 82 min)         Dir: Vittorio De Sica                   Script: Cesare Zavattini

My Rating: 9/10

Synopsis (my way)

Antonio’s Character in Bicycle thieves of a poor father struggling to get his family together after the war, is the perfect example of an evolving character who goes through a self-enlightening process in just one day.

Antonio is an honest person, who is jobless and still strongly believes in the society and the institutions of police, law and work. He also has utter disbelief and disregard for superstitions and discourages his wife in the beginning.

By the end of the film, as a result of the long and tiring chase for the stolen bicycle, on which his life depended, he has had many experiences that tears him apart and help his character develop as he goes through different situations and social institutions of church, police station, the trade union, and various other such everyday circumstances, which are somehow not that simple and assisting anymore.

He is forced, as a last chance, to visit a fortune teller to ask about his bicycle. Also, he doesn't believe as much as he did in the police anymore, and in the end he himself, as if in a vicious circle of wrongdoings, is forced to steal a bicycle as a last recourse, only to be caught and beaten up, and let go of only because of the presence of his son, in whose eyes he seems to have fallen. However, that is not the case for his son understands the father’s dilemma and shares his pain. This is perhaps symbolic that the New Generation forgives their ancestors for the pains of War, and the last scene of holding hands signifies that they would go hand in hand to mend the destruction.

What is the film about ?

Some will tell you that it is mainly a film about the relationship between a father and his son, soon after the war days in Italy. They would also tell you that it is an elaborate tale in which father and son are put into a tumultuous condition where the task at hand, of finding the stolen bicycle is of prime importance.
However, this is only partially correct, and the description couldn't be more wrong.

Though I wouldn't blame the person. Years of Hollywood movie going and seeing the almost larger than life story of a larger than life character going through super human and unabashedly exaggerated circumstances is what draws this lofty yet narrow conclusion. 

No. This film is about a trivial side story of a newspaper. A petty crime story involving a stolen bicycle that deserves not more than 2 lines on the sideliner of the dullest page of a newspaper. It is a story woven around the lives of the most insignificant and apparently invisible characters of Italy. Yet, it is through these characters that De Sica introduces the society and the state of affairs in Italy. The brilliance and ingenuity of the film lies in its making. Being one of the most polished Neo Realist films, it is made in true Neo Realist ways. Shot on location with previously unknown faces, Bicycle Thieves manages to bring out the reality of Italy, and thus achieve the objective of Neo Realism. The Most important thing though, is the Layers of action achieved in the film. Unlike most of other films, and in stark contrast to Hollywood film where only the central action and characters were scripted and there was an almost complete lack of anything in the background, here, scripting was done in three layers: . The Foreground, the Mid ground, and the Background. For this, the film can be seen three times seeing only one of the layers at a time. The film was less about the two main characters and more about the society they were living in. Vittorio De Sica’s remarks and views of the society and institutions of superstition, church, marriage, trade union, etc. can be seen at every juncture.  

Verdict: See the Film for its brilliance.

DID YOU KNOW?

Satyajit Ray saw ‘Bicycle Thieves’ 36 times, and this is what inspired him to finally start making films. In fact, he also said that if he will ever make ‘Pather Panchali’, he will make it in the way this was made. Such was the effect of this film on the best Director of Indian Cinema.