Today, I want to talk about a different topic — a film!
Bicycle Thieves (original title Ladri di Biciclette) by Vittorio De Sica. This film was first released in Italy in 1948 and it is part of a movement called Neorealism.
What is Neorealism about? These films depict the hardships of everyday life in post-war Italy, which was then a country trying to recover from the devastations of WW2. The protagonists are usually working-class people, living in poor settings. Neorealism is about real-life stories and, as such, they can be quite dramatic. In other words, you can’t always expect a happy ending because many times things in real life don’t go as we wish.
That is basically what happens in Bicycle Thieves. Here is a brief plot.
Antonio succeeds in finding a well-paid job in Rome as a billposter. The main requirement: he absolutely needs a bike to go around the city and do his job. However, he first needs to buy one and, to be able to afford it, his wife decides to give away a set of bed sheets in exchange for money. Antonio’s new job is great news for the entire family, who is hoping to live a better life. But, what happens on Antonio’s first day will determine the unfolding of the following events. Guess what? Antonio gets his bicycle stolen in front of his eyes and, unfortunately, he is not able to stop the thief and is soon left behind. From then on, the film is about his numerous attempts to find the thief and his bike. Yet, plenty of obstacles make his search really hard and frustrating.
You know from the beginning that his bike will be stolen — it’s there, in the title. Anyway, I was naively hoping that in the end Antonio would find his bicycle. That’s probably because many films actually have a happy ending, their stories make us expect such a conclusion. I watched the entire film feeling that sense of helplessness Antonio must have felt. Nobody seemed able or willing to help him in such a hard search. Even more frustratingly, the protagonist risks a couple of times to be the one who is wrong.
Then, we reach the end of the story when Antonio is so desperate that he himself steals a bike in front of his kid’s eyes. During a dramatic and frantic scene, Antonio is soon stopped by the owner and some passers-by. He is almost dragged to the police station if it wasn’t for the owner of the bike who decides to spare him such troubles.
Eventually, NO, he doesn’t get his bike back.
All the story revolves around the stolen bicycle. This bike is indeed vital to Antonio: he needs it to do his job and, if he can’t go to work, his entire family won’t be able to eat. Hence, the frustration. His family depends on such income.
My first reaction was “Oh come on! He desperately needs that bike! Please, please help him!”
Then followed a stream of thoughts about how life can be utterly unjust. Finally, if you think more deeply about the meaning of this film, you will see that it touches many different issues. For example, it is also about the social struggle within the lower class. Indeed, we find out that the thief’s family was living in poverty as well. Not only that — the difficulties in finding a job; popular beliefs, like people recurring to a fortuneteller as a way to solve their problems; etc.
It’s such a simple plot but so effective — emotionally speaking. Also, it gives you plenty of food for thoughts!
Images sources: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ladri_di_biciclette_-_immagine_.jpg (featured)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ladri-biciclette.jpg
