Week 20: Bicycle Thieves
-Pile of Linens, Pile of Dreams
It is Italy 1949. World War II has ended and hundreds of thousands of Italians are living in poverty and desperation. A crowd forms around a man offering jobs one early morning. There is only one job available at the time but it is a good one- a permanent position hanging film posters around Rome. The only requirement is that the employee has a bicycle.
"I have a bicycle" shouts Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani). He is given the job. Of course, he doesn't actually have a bicycle. He pawned it several weeks ago to feed his wife and two children. When he comes home and tells his wife Maria (Lianella Carrell) the news she immediately strips the bed of all linens. "We can sleep without sheets" she says.
Antonio and Maria go to the pawn shop and pawn their sheets. The pawnbroker gives them enough liras to purchase the Bicycle back. We then see a powerful image of the pawnbroker- he is taking the sheets to the back of the shop and there is a massive shelf filled with nothing but linens- sheets pawned out of necessity. The pawnbroker has to climb a ladder to find a spot to put his new acquisition.
It is in moments like this Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves cements itself as a great film- a masterpiece of world cinema. The events described above happen within the first ten minutes and we are already entranced. It is a universal story- the struggle to make ends meet to survive. We must sacrifice our primal comforts (sheets, time with family, physical or mental health) in order to do what is necessary to survive and support those we love. It does not matter that this film is in Italian subtitles, or in a setting over fifty years ago; we understand the message and can apply it to a variety of different scenarios.
Antonio is overjoyed to have his bicycle back. He and his son, Bruno (Enzo Staiola) spend hours inflating the tires to the right pressure and cleaning the bike until it looks perfect. They take pride in their work. Bruno is just as happy as his father. He spends his days working at a gas station. While Bruno’s exact age is never given he can be no more than 12. His father having a full time job will take pressure off of his family. It may even allow them to be able to send Bruno to school.
The job is simple. Antonio will ride his bike around town carrying a ladder, some posters and a bucket of glue. He will glue posters to the side of walls or buildings, making sure they are positioned properly and glued all the way down- no lumps can be seen under the poster. Antonio takes the job happily and takes pride in his work. The poster he is shown hanging is for Rita Hayworth’s film Gilda. The poster choice was a deliberate decision by De Sica. We see a man on the verge of destitution putting up images of Hollywood success and glamour- a deliberate image portraying the differences between Hollywood and the real world (which is pretty much everywhere outside of Hollywood). Things are going great until the bicycle is stolen.
Antonio is devastated. He sees the man that steals the bicycle from him while he is up on a ladder. He chases him through the streets of Rome but cannot catch him. There are no witnesses so there is no proof. Antonio (and later Bruno as well) scours the streets of Rome looking for the bicycle thief. They spend days but cannot find him. Both Antonio and Bruno during the entirety of the search are on the verge of tears. It is not a mere object that is stolen but a primal necessity for the family to survive. Now Antonio has no job, no bicycle and no sheets.
“You live and you suffer” Antonio tells Bruno. He decides that despair is too much and splurges on a pizza and some wine with his son. Together the two share a moment of pure happiness. They eat and drink a bottle of wine together. It is one of the films great moments. The man is on the verge of starvation but he wants to savor a moment of happiness with someone he loves. Here is another universal theme- in both the arts and reality. We see it all of the time. A single mother that works two jobs buys her child a pair of expensive shoes, or takes the family out once a month, or saves up all year to give her children a good Christmas. It is an act of love taking priority over survival and long term happiness. It is heartbreaking and unequivocally true.
Antonio finally does catch the bicycle thief. He chases him into a brothel, grabs him and demands his bicycle back. The thief lies and says he has no idea what the crazy man is talking about. A mob forms, the police are called. It is futile. Antonio has no proof, no eyewitnesses other than himself. Antonio is told to stop causing a scene and move on. There is no justice.
"There's a cure for everything except death."
Bicycle Thieves is one of the greatest films of all time, plain and true. The story is so simple and universal that audiences around the world have embraced it for decades. Released in 1949, the film was given a special Academy Award in 1950. When Sight and Sound Magazine began their now acclaimed greatest films polls each decade, Bicycle Thieves was the first film to be declared the greatest film of all time. It has since remained in the top ten list decade after decade. It is the finest example of Italian Neorealism- a form of cinema that was prevalent in Italy after World War II.
A Neorealist film is a movie that essentially tells the story of the working class. The setting is always a situation of poverty and the message is always clear- civilization can do better than class separation and the unfair distribution of wealth. Neorealist films typically are raw and unglamorous. There are no Rita Hayworth’s here- only real men, women and children struggling to survive. It is common for filmmakers of the genre to hire real people for parts and not trained actors. This was the case with Bicycle Thieves. There is not a professional actor in the picture. Lamberto Maggiorani and Enzo Staiola, the father and son, were both hired off of the streets. Maggiorani was a poor factory worker. Staiola was a child off the streets. You would not have known this if not informed. Their performances are so real, so completely genuine, that they rank among the finest of the era. The tears and emotions come from real places. Maggiorani always looks like he knows where the story is heading, even though his character has not. Staiola is only around 12 years old, but has the eyes and actions of an adult. I am sure he had a difficult youth.
The direction by De Sica is understated. He does not want you thinking about his skill, or the angles in which he shoots. Instead he simply allows the camera to roll and the story to unfold on the screen. The camera looks at what we should be looking at. This is an exercise of story over skill or effects- a lesson that many (most?) American filmmakers desperately need to learn. The score by Alessandro Cicognini is beautiful in ways that only an Italian composer can create. Much of the great Nino Rota’s work sounds similar to Cicognini’s. I am unsure if they knew each other- but it sure sounds like they may have.
The film’s final moments are extremely powerful. There is a soccer game being played in a nearby arena. Antonio sits on a curb with his son and breaks down in tears. In front of him are rows upon rows of unattended bicycles. They are free for grabs. There is another bicycle behind him, leaning against the wall. Antonio tells Bruno to take the bus home. He deliberates. Should he sacrifice his soul, his sense of righteousness, by stealing a bike or should he continue to starve to death. De Sica takes him time with the sequence. We can see the inner turmoil in Antonio’s eyes. He finally breaks- he is the head of the household, he has responsibilities and must support his family. He steals a bicycle and beings to pedal quickly away when he is caught by a slew of witnesses. A mob drags him to police headquarters. Bruno, still waiting for the bus sees what has happened and comes to be with his father. The mob takes pity on Antonio when they see the tears in Bruno’s eyes and let him go. In tears, together the two hold hands and walk aimlessly up the streets to join the masses. There is no right or wrong- there is only self preservation.
Note- While the greatest Neorealism films are this picture and De Sica’s own Shoeshine the genre is by no means dead. Instead neorealism is alive today in other nations. There is an American director working today that has clearly been influenced by De Sica, and his films are just as good. His name is Ramin Bahrani and his films Man Push Cart and Chop Shop are outstanding. They are both exercises in American Neorealism and are great counterparts to Bicycle Thieves. Seek these pictures out if you are a lover of film.
Review and Analysis by Shaun Henisey
The full film is available for streaming on YouTube below:
Cast and Credits:
Ricci: Lamberto Maggiorani
Bruno: Enzo Staiola
Maria: Lianella Carell
Criterion presents a film directed by Vittorio De Sica. Written by Cesare Zavattini and Vittorio De Sica.
Running Time: 90 minutes. In Italian with English Subtitles. Not Rated by the MPAA- Suitable for All Audiences.
Return Sunday, February 28th for a full review and analysis. (Yes, folks, I will be vacation this weekend. The review will not appear until next Sunday. Watch the film- it's a classic! `SH)