Bicycle Thieves
Screening: Monday 17 November 2008
Italy 1948.Director: Vittorio de Sica.
Starring: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell.
Subtitles.
Certificate: PG. 94 minutes.
Synopsis
Vittorio De Sica’s film about the theft of a poor man’s bicycle in Rome in the depression following the Second World War almost defined the term ”neo-realist cinema”.Shot in documentary style it follows Antonio, who after a period out of work obtains a job posting flyers on street walls. He needs a bicycle and reluctantly, his wife pawns her wedding sheets to raise the cash.
Disaster strikes when the bicycle is stolen and he is unable to maintain his job, despite locating the thief, whose neighbours give him a false alibi.
Desperate, he attempts to steal a bicycle, but is humiliated in front of his son. However, the owner decides not to press charges and although he has not recovered his bicycle, Antonio realises that he is no better than the man who stole it.
It is one of the most highly regarded films ever made, having been awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 1949 and heading Sight and Sound’s poll of critics and filmmakers three years later.
