Two View Movie Review: Ladri di biciclette (The Bicycle Thieves)

Taking place in the bombed-out & depleted post-W.W.II Rome, Ladri di biciclette follows Antonio Ricci, an unemployed husband & father of two, who receives a job pasting movie posters in the inner city, but the job requires a bicycle. Without a bike, Antonio's wife pawns of their bed sheets in order to buy one, because this job comes with overtime & allowance for the family, meaning the Ricci's will never have to worry about eating again. But, one his first day, Antonio gets his bicycle stolen & barely sees the thief. He goes to the police & gets no help from them. With his neighbors & Bruno, his son, Antonio searches high & low for the bicycle, which finding or not finding the bike could change the coarse of his life forever.

What can I say about the The Bicycle Thieves? Nothing, I guess. Time to go home.

Just kidding. The Bicycle Thieves is one of my favorite films & was highly acclaimed when released & is still considered the best Italian neorealist films & one of the best films ever. Italian neorealism came after W.W.II & received its name because the directors used real locations, not sets, & non-actors, which director Vittorio De Sica also did. The neorealist made their stories about the poor & working class & showed the tough mental & physical conditions that were affecting the people.

This came about when Europe was going through this big change after the War. People didn't know how to react to such an extreme situation & they were living life next to buildings that were falling apart & new buildings were being constructed. It probably seemed like there was no way to pick yourself up, causing severe psychological & moral questions to be placed.