Bicycle Thieves

Introduction:

In the film Bicycle Thieves, I realize that the theory Italian Neorealism existed. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to talk about Italian Neorealism. Bicycle Thieves was published on 24 November 1948 in Italy and 12 December 1949 in United State, it directed by Vittorio De Sica which is an Italian director. This film has an Italian name which is Ladri di biciclette. This film is also adapted from a novel of the same title by Luigi Bartolini.

Theory Discussion:

Italian Neo-realism was suggested by Cesare Zavattini, the theoretical founder of neo-realism in 1942. He suggested a new form of Italian Cinema that abolished contrived and planned post, uses real life people and location in order to direct contact to people with contemporary social reality. For the plot of Italian Neo-realism, Zavattini state it is a fake structure of daily life, which means no plot for it. For the actors, he suggested use non-professional actor instead of a professional actor because a non-professional actor can act more naturally, just like their routine, which mean they respond more naturally when suddenly encounter something. The second reason for using non-professional instead of using professional actor is because of a professional actor will act in variety way and well plan for the particular scene, which means it can be a superb acting skill due to trained before.

Italian Neorealism is a form of film-making technique which introduced after World War II. It is used to portraying the poverty and the hardship of the society. It film about the tough experiences of the lower-class worker who completely suffer relies on the job. The society was suffered due to the economical and environment where almost collapsed and destroyed during the wartime. Italian Neorealism often uses non-professional actors because most of them were experienced the poverty and hardship that upper class does not experience and they can exert the character perfectly. Italian Neorealism always shot on-location to present the realistic of the society during the post-war era. Normally, the film will be sad, emotional and involve crimes due to the poverty, injustice, and desperation during that time.

Synopsis:

It is a story about an employed father named Antonio Ricci gets offered a job which is posting advertisement poster in the city but it requires a bicycle. His wife, Maria sells all of the bed sheets to the pawn shop to redeem a bicycle for Ricci. Unfortunately, at the first day of work, Ricci's bicycle was stolen by a young man and Ricci unable to chase the young man. In order to avoid losing his job, he brings his son, Bruno along and finds the bicycle with his friends. They face a lot of trouble when looking for a bicycle but still unable to find the bicycle.

Film Analysis:

In this film, there are a few elements show that it is an Italian Neorealism film. Firstly, the institution of long shot can be found in the film. It is for audiences to observe the foreground and background of the scene so that the audiences able to comprehend the environment of the story more. For example, when Ricci working by pasting the poster on the wall. The long shot is taken to show the action of posting the poster. Therefore, audiences can notice there a few suspicion men were standing behind Ricci. Then, his bicycle got stole by the thief and we also know there is a man who acts like a good man in helping him to find the thief. This kind shot allows the audiences to observe more in a scene.

Besides that, it shows the society is the poverty, the effects of the war on the unemployment of the people and the economy at that period. When Ricci gets the job, his wife which is Maria pawns all of their bed sheets to redeem his bicycle which has been pawned before for Ricci to work. The pawn shop is to show the poverty society when Ricci redeems his bicycle at the pawn shop, we notice that a lot of people are queuing up at the back and waiting for their turn to pawn or redeem stuff, the tall shelves is full with other people’s bed sheets that have been pawned, even the worker needs to climb up to stack up the bed sheet. 

Furthermore, there is a real location shooting in this film which is shot at the post-war area to create the grainy visual to emphasize the people are suffering for their life. The real location is showing when his wife, Maria with a group of women are pulling water from a well. At this shot, we can notice that the combination of new and old buildings at the same time and the roads are not well repaired; the lighting in this Italian Neorealism film is natural light as well.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, this film fully shows of poverty society experience in Italy after World War II and how the people suffer during that period.  This movie perfectly portrayed the struggles of the lower class in difficult condition after World War II in Italy. Lastly, I still wondering to know whether Ricci will lose his job or not and I dislike this kind of ending because he makes me feel it is a not responsible ending although the director using open ending.