Current trends in geopolitics and the global economy point towards the masses, at least in the West, being gradually deprived of many things taken for granted since the Second World War. If there are past films that might give some idea of what the future has in store, most of them belong to the works of Italian Neorealism. Among those the most famous is The Bicycle Thieves, a 1948 drama directed by Vittorio De Sica, often considered one of the best films ever made.
The film is based on the eponymous 1946 novel by Luigi Bartolini. The plot is set in Rome, a city that mostly escaped the destruction of the recently ended war but not its economic aftermath in the form of rampant poverty and unemployment. Among the masses desperate for any sort of job is the protagonist Antonio Ricci (played by Lamberto Maggiorani), a man who needs to support his family. At first, it seems that luck has smiled on him, because the employment office offers him a job posting advertising bills. The only problem is that the job requires a bicycle, which Antonio has pawned. Antonio’s wife Maria (played by Lianella Carell) solves that problem by selling the family’s prize bed sheets and allows the bicycle to be redeemed.
With his problems apparently solved, Antonio proudly goes to work but his first day on the job ends in disaster. A young man (played by Vittorio Anucci) snatches the bicycle and escapes before Antonio can catch it. Desperate to get the bicycle back and told by police that he must track it down himself, Antonio, accompanied by his pre-adolescent son Bruno (played by Enzo Staiola), begins his search.
What would later become the main characteristics of the Neorealist movement – the use of locations instead of studios, non-professional actors, contemporary settings with an emphasis on social themes – were brought to Italian cinema out of necessity rather than conscious decision, because the film industry, like the rest of the country, was in ruins. Three years after the war, the filmmakers, including Vittorio De Sica and his main scriptwriter Cesare Zavattini, realised that those very features made their films not only refreshingly different from Hollywood products, but also much more realistic, authentic and imbued with greater emotional impact. The Bicycle Thieves, which, originally, had almost been produced with Hollywood money and with stars like Cary Grant or Henry Fonda in the main roles, gives a perfect example of how such a seemingly “unrefined”, and rather depressing film might withstand the test of time better than escapist fantasies that might have been more popular at the time of its premiere.
The secret of The Bicycle Thieves is in its simplicity. Zavattini, who led the screenwriting team, decided to stray from the source novel by having the protagonist changed from a member of the impoverished middle class into a more ordinary working-class person. As such, Antonio is a person with whom more of the audience could identify and root for during his grand quest that takes place in the relatively limited time frame of a few days. Another important characteristic of the film is De Sica’s superb direction and simple but effective structure. The protagonist begins as an anonymous part of an impoverished mass and ends as an anonymous part of an impoverished mass. De Sica adds only a little bit of sentimentality by having the protagonist accompanied by his young son, who doesn’t actually contribute much to his quest, but nevertheless keeps reminding Antonio and the audience of the stakes involved. De Sica also takes great pains to show post-war Rome far from its glorious tourist-exploiting past and instead gives insight into newly built, but still unfinished quarters where Antonio tries to live, as well as poor and “troubled” neighbourhoods that involve flea markets, underground theatres, churches that provided welfare to the homeless and even brothels.
What is even more convincing about this picture is that The Bicycle Thieves dispenses with the traditional separation between heroes and villains. In dire socioeconomic circumstances, such as those experienced by post-war Italy, the line between crime and mere survival becomes very thin. This is best shown in the scene when Antonio finally finds and confronts the thief only to find him to be a pathetic epileptic whose family lives in even worse condition than his. And then comes the powerful finale when Antonio, in desperation, tries to solve his problem by becoming a thief himself.
De Sica also benefited from inspiring and unconventional acting choices. Lamberto Maggiorani was a factory worker who caught the director’s attention by bringing his son to the casting for Bruno’s role. Maggiorani plays Antonio not only as an ordinary man, but also as a very flawed one who gets into trouble because some of his choices aren’t particularly smart. His lack of experience and insecurity on the set actually played well on screen, making the fear and desperation of his character more palpable. Maggiorani’s fate in real life, ironically, followed his character’s; he lost his factory job only to later have serious trouble finding film roles. Young Enzo Staiola, originally spotted by De Sica among street onlookers, was more fortunate and spent the next couple of years as a successful child actor. The same thing happened with Lianella Carell, a journalist who got cast after coming to interview De Sica.
Despite the story being very bleak and depressive, with the only bright spot being Antonio enjoying a random act of kindness near the end, The Bicycle Thieves won over Italian audiences. Although some Italian critics, establishment politicians and even representatives of the Neorealist movement like Luchino Visconti expressed their disapproval, the film won favour internationally. Just like De Sica’s previous work Shoeshine, it won an Oscar for Best International Film and even, more importantly, the top spot at the very first prestigious Sight & Sound poll for the best film ever made. Although some might find Alessandro Cicognini’s music score a little bit old-fashioned and less effective than in Shoeshine, this is the film that still packs a heavy punch today and its immense influence on many future filmmakers like Satyajit Ray and Ken Loach is quite understandable.
RATING: 8/10 (+++)
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