Bicycle Thieves (1948)

In post-war Italy, a working-class man's bicycle is stolen. He and his son set out to find it.

Director:

Vittorio De Sica

Writers:

Cesare Zavattini (story), Luigi Bartolini (novel)

Stars:

Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell

Top Rated Movies #101 | Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 18 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lamberto Maggiorani	...	Antonio
Enzo Staiola	...	Bruno
Lianella Carell	...	Maria
Elena Altieri	...	The Charitable Lady
Gino Saltamerenda	...	Baiocco
Giulio Chiari	...	The Beggar
Vittorio Antonucci	...	The Thief
Michele Sakara	...	Secretary of the Charity Organization
Fausto Guerzoni	...	Amateur Actor
Emma Druetti
Carlo Jachino	...	A Beggar

Storyline

Ricci, an unemployed man in the depressed post-WWII economy of Italy, gets at last a good job - for which he needs a bike - hanging up posters. But soon his bicycle is stolen. He and his son walk the streets of Rome, looking for the bicycle. Ricci finally manages to locate the thief but with no proof, he has to abandon his cause. But he and his son know perfectly well that without a bike, Ricci won't be able to keep his job.

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Plot Keywords:

thief | theft | despair | church | chase | 

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Taglines:

The Prize Picture They Want to Censor!

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian English

Release Date:

13 December 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bicycle Thieves

Filming Locations:

Via del Gran Paradiso, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$133,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$25,377, 4 October 1998

Gross USA:

$371,111

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$428,978

Company Credits

Production Co:

Produzioni De Sica (PDS), Produzioni De Sica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lamberto Maggiorani was very shy and embarrassed throughout the shooting as he had no actor training or would often become anxious when he couldn't do what Vittorio De Sica wanted him to do. The director, however, did not coddle him because he knew Maggiorani's real anxiety and nervousness before the camera would work well for his on-screen character. De Sica would later praise Maggiorani, saying "The way he moved, the way he sat down, his gestures with his hands hardened from work, the hands of a working man, not of an actor...I made him promise that after the film he would forget the cinema and would go back to his job." But during the filming, De Sica would still send a black limousine to pick Maggiorani up and bring him to the day's location.

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Goofs

[All goofs for this title are spoilers.]

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Quotes

Antonio Ricci: "There's a cure for everything except death."

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Connections

Referenced in In de Vlaamsche pot: Eerlijk vlees (1991)

User Reviews

A Potpourri of Vestiges Review: The path to eternal salvation becomes obvious only through true understanding of human emotions

Semantically speaking, self-realization is a probable prelude to catharsis, but at a much higher echelon of cognition the two become virtually inseparable as attaining the former would automatically yield the latter. At this threshold of enlightenment, human spirit attains a sense of ephemeral divinity that would either drive the human crazy or would lead him to salvation. This enlightenment can seldom be attained through vicarious means. Even cinema, with its unparalleled potential to stimulate and satiate, mostly falls short of being cathartic, and only in the rarest of the rare cases does it manage to accomplish the incredible and the extraordinary. Undoubtedly, Bicycle Thieves is one such rare moment of triumph, wherein cinema becomes not only the tool but also the medium for the viewer to attain eternal salvation.

Bicycle Thieves is an Italian neo-realist film by Vittorio De Sica. Neo- realism, a naturalistic movement in Italian cinema of the 1940s, aimed at giving cinema a new degree of realism, which promoted the use of an amateur cast vis-à-vis a professionally trained one and advocated shooting at real locations instead of the custom-built sets & studios. Keeping up with the spirit of the movement, Vittorio De Sica chose a factory fitter who had brought his son along for an audition as his male lead. His lead actress was a journalist who had approached him for an interview, while the young boy was filled by a child spotted in the crowd watching the filming.

Bicycle Thieves tells the story of a poor worker searching the streets of Rome for his stolen bicycle, which he needs to keep his job intact. The movie is an amalgam of contrasting human feelings of hope & despair, sacrifice & gratification, euphoria & melancholy, love & detestation, and malice & benevolence. Bicycle Thieves performs the central function of art, which is to discover the meaning of life. The movie brilliantly handles with utmost care and precision the tender and often painful relationship that universally exists between a father and a son. The later half of the movie presents cinema at its most vivid, vituperative and volatile culminating in one of the most impactful, melancholic and brutally humanistic finales ever filmed in cinematic history, the agony of which would keep the viewer contemplating for weeks, months, or even years.

The screenplay is simplistic, thought-provoking and at times nakedly brutal, while the cinematography is so effortless and magnificently beautiful that it appears as though a soul of a man has been filmed, and its true essence has been captured and preserved. The poignancy of the background score casts such a sustained spell that the movie experience is enhanced beyond imagination. American playwright Arthur Miller called it a lyrical masterpiece as it examines openly the destructive and draconian world man has made for himself. Marlon Brando once said, "Bicycle Thieves is the perfect example of what can be done in front of the motion picture camera and is so rarely done". Academy winner, Henry Fonda was so moved by the movie that he was tempted to write Vittorio De Sica a fan letter. The film is frequently on critics' and directors' lists of the best films ever made. It has captured every honor that the world of film can bestow including an Academy Honorary Award in 1950.

All these accolades and the ubiquitous acclaim cannot describe the actual experience of seeing this film and becoming a part of its emotional impact. It makes the viewer laugh, cry and experience a rainbow of emotions. Bicycle Thieves has withstood the test of time for over six decades, and is a film for anyone and everyone.

PS. It is a cinematic magnum opus, which accentuates the true might of cinema, and is a must for everyone, irrespective of cast, color, creed or gender. It's an ageless cinema for people of all age groups. 10/10

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