Lamberto Maggiorani

Enzo Staiola

Lianella Carell

Gino Saltamerenda

Vittorio Antonucci

Giulio Chiari

Elena Altieri

Carlo Jachino

Michele Sakara

Emma Druetti

Eolo Capritti

Fausto Guerzoni

Giulio Battiferri

Sergio Leone

Mario Meniconi

Checco Rissone

Peppino Spadaro

Nando Bruno

Memmo Carotenuto

Umberto Spadaro

Piero Heliczer

Massimo Randisi

Vittorio De Sica

Gerardo Guerrieri

Oreste Biancoli

Suso Cecchi d'Amico

Luigi Bartolini

Cesare Zavattini

Alessandro Cicognini

Antonio Traverso

Eraldo Da Roma

Adolfo Franci

Giuseppe Amato

Carlo Di Palma

Nino Misiano

Luisa Alessandri

Biagio Fiorelli

Gherardo Gherardi

Mario Montuori

Umberto Scarpelli

Bruno Brunacci

Carlo Montuori

Willy Ferrero

Roberto Moretti

Drama

Ladri di biciclette

Produzioni De Sica

Italy

Italiano

Bicycle Thieves

rome, italy

italian

society

riding a bicycle

search

poster

thief

black and white

stolen bicycle

madame

unemployment

realism

criterion

neo realism

italian neo realism

inspirational

instructive

When in Rome... keep an eye on your bicycle! Or else it might be stolen and you'll find yourself fruitlessly searching the streets of Italy, as the father and son do in this classic Italian film.  Lamberto Maggiorani, as the desperate, out of work father, and Enzo Staiola, as his frustrated young son, play off each other nicely and a nice pace keeps things interesting. It's heralded as one of the greatest movies ever made, but personally I don't quite see why. It's a good story none the less, and it kept my attention. There's a very satisfying dose of irony at the end.

CinemaSerf

In post war Rome, money is very tight for "Antonio" (Lamberto Maggiorani) so when he gets a chance to earn some extra cash, he grabs the opportunity. Snag is, he needs his bike to do the work and someone has just pinched it. Together with his young son "Bruno" (a superb Enzo Staiola) he sets out on the near impossible task of tracking the thing down! What ensues are a series of escapades as the father and son team encounter a range of equally war ravaged citizens - some more helpful than others - on their mini-quest. It's an interesting study on humanity this, centred around something so apparently pedestrian as losing a bike, but the cascading impact of that event on their lives and their relationship as well as with the profound effects on their livelihood and self respect are expertly laid out by De Rica, who draws us gradually into their series of adventures. The simplicity of the story also engenders an opportunity to look at the poverty endured by many sections of the citizenry (those who sit through the mass so they can be rewarded with a bowl of soup rather than worrying about any redemption of their soul, for example). The performance from the young Staiola is excellent. He plays the role of the young boy with considerable natural skill - his character has no real idea of why this bike is so important, nor of why it's loss is causing his father's behaviour to vacillate - but like a loyal puppy, he continues to help out, even saving the day at one stage. The settings in this ancient city add considerably to the sense of despair - ruins (old and new) - and at times they make you wonder of life here has really moved on so much from Roman times. The pace of the film is very well measured, the script is not devoid of a bit humour, even joy, now and again and the momentum builds steadily to a conclusion that is remarkably poignant and that left me with a smile on my face. Question is though, does he find his bike???

Bicycle Thieves( 1948)

The Prize Picture They Want to Censor!

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A review by barrymost

Written by barrymost on Thu Aug 06 2020

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