In post-war Rome, Antonio gets a job posting bills. He needs transportation so he hocks his bed sheets so he can unhock his bicycle. On his first day, his bicycle is stolen. The police can’t help, so he and his son go looking for it. Roll credits.
A Hollywood producer would insist there be more story, ridiculously high stakes, some kind of love angle, an unambiguously happy ending. More stuff. Here, the story, that is the story of the bicycle search, is allowed to breathe. The increasing desperation of our protagonist and his relationship with his son, the actual story, is allowed to develop and have real meaning.
The principal actors were complete amateurs. The boy playing Antonio’s son was hired because he was hanging around the set and looked the part. His mom was a reporter sent to interview the director. It was shot almost gorilla style. A scene where young Bruno crosses the street following his father, he is almost hit by a car twice. This was not scripted. It is what happened and the camera caught it.
Earlier in the year I discovered I was becoming tired of generic Hollywood films. I’ve since thrown a few foreign films into the mix. This is the second that falls into the category of Italian neorealism. Post-war Italy was a bleak place and now without the censorship of a fascist government, filmmakers were allowed to tell the stories they wanted to tell.
Compare this to the Hollywood vision. Just five years later they produced Roman Holiday. An excellent film, but with glamour, romance, and a charming and immaculate Rome for the backdrop. Both have their place, but this is the kind of film I've been neglecting.
Although it doesn't seem like it, Bicycle Thieves has a lot going on. People try to help as much as they can, and behave realistically, avoiding the man against the world cliche of American movies. The stakes are high despite not saying it outright. It is an excellent, simple but detailed story. AMRU 4.
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