Bicycle Thieves (De Sica, 1948) centers an impactful narrative around Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani), whose interactions with the film’s setting and props mimics his transition from aspiration to desperation in resource-starved post-World War II Italy. In particular, De Sica’s preferred method of shooting on-location contributes to the overwhelming sense of futility Antonio feels as he desperately searches in vain for his stolen bicycle. The open expanse of Rome in the late 1940’s, populated by millions of people (and millions of bicycles), highlights the plight of the post-war proletariat through an emphasis on the sheer number of people on screen at any given moment. Although the film focuses specifically on Antonio, De Sica directs our attention to the bustling crowd of extras at multiple points—most notably during the film’s opening, in which a group of rowdy men fight over a limited number of employment opportunities, and the film’s final shot, which sees Antonio and his son Bruno (Enzo Staiola) disappear into a mob of men with their backs turned to the camera, seemingly indecipherable from one another.
The characters in these films were savvy, secretive and wealthy unlike the gangsters seen in Little Caesar and Scarface: The Shame of the Nation. Brian De Palma’s Scarface (1983) payed homage to the original, and although they follow roughly the same storyline, De Palma’s remake is more reminiscent of The Godfather films than its predecessor. Tony Montana (Al Pacino), the film’s main character, worked his way up from poverty by selling drugs and committing horrifying acts of violence in order to attain the power, wealth and woman he so desired. In his 1983 review of Scarface, Pulitzer prize winner, Roger Ebert states “Al Pacino does not make Montana into a sympathetic character, but he does make him into somebody we can identify with, in a horrified way, if only because of his perfectly understandable motivations” (RogerEbert.com). More than fifty years later, Ebert expresses similar thoughts to those of Robert Warshow, esteemed film critic and author of “The Gangster as a Tragic Hero.” “…We [the audience] gain the double satisfaction of participating vicariously in the gangster’s sadism and then seeing it turned against the gangster himself.” (Warshow) These sentiments are exactly what the censorship of the 1932 version intended to prevent, yet Scarface (1983) did not receive the same scrutiny. Despite the mixed reviews that Howard Hawk’s original Scarface: Shame of the Nation and Brian De Palma’s
Both Big Deal on Madonna Street and Bicycle Thieves present neorealism on two different spectrums. The movie Bicycle Thieves portrays neorealism by showing a man named Antonio Ricci, who just got a job that would help provide for his family, putting up posters for the city requiring the use of a bicycle to get around and no other way. To even get a bicycle he had to trade in their family’s sheets in exchange for it trading goods when they don’t have any money to get one. After one day on the job his bike was stolen and he goes on a journey with his son to look for it roaming through Italy. This shows the economic struggles throughout the city and the social
Film Noir, as Paul Schrader integrates in his essay ‘Notes on Film Noir,’ reflects a marked phase in the history of films denoting a peculiar style observed during that period. More specifically, Film Noir is defined by intricate qualities like tone and mood, rather than generic compositions, settings and presentation. Just as ‘genre’ categorizes films on the basis of common occurrences of iconographic elements in a certain way, ‘style’ acts as the paradox that exemplifies the generality and singularity at the same time, in Film Noir, through the notion of morality. In other words, Film Noir is a genre that exquisitely entwines theme and style, and henceforth sheds light on individual difference in perception of a common phenomenon. Pertaining
Amelio places an immense focus on intertextuality in this film as an homage to the end of the neorealistic era. He particularly references one of the leading figures of the neorealistic movement, Vittorio De Sica, and his film Bicycle Thief. The title, Stolen Children, and the main character’s name, Antonio, are an allusion of Bicycle Thief. Through Amelio’s choice of allusions,
In film, many times the auteur often uses the medium to convey a moral or make a social commentary. In the case of Howard Hawkes’s original version of Scarface, there is more being portrayed through the characters then merely the story. Hawkes makes a statement about the façade of organized crime, and the farce of the American Dream.
The gangster genre within films in America has accomplished numerous positive criticisms and constant willing audiences due to containing outstanding spectacles and mind-blowing action. The Godfather, being second on the IMDb Top 250 Movies, has set a new popular concept to life within the Mafia from their point of view. Doing so, creating a positive association. Yet within Italy, the same topic contains a complete different view. Movies such as I Cento Passi demonstrate unenthusiastic view by those whom are outside yet negatively affected by those members. Unlike American films, the gangsters are not as often viewed at the protagonist and are the main causes for the problematic events. But how different is Italian Mafia and American Mafia in cinema?
“Scarface”, an original gangster film created by Brian De Palma, has captured audience’s attention by remarkable editing shots and the superb use of mise-en-scene. “Scarface”, originally released December 9 of1983, is a drama revolved around the life of Tony Montana who is played by Al Pacino. Tony gets his name by the scar on his face going over his right eye. He was born in Cuba who immigrated to the United State who then starts his life in Florida from the bottom of the drug cartel to soon making his way up to becoming one of the most powerful cocaine cartel leaders in Miami. What made this film so realistic was because at the time, Miami was becoming a huge crime scene to cocaine smuggling and drug wars. According to Answers.com, this time was brutal and the people associated with this lifestyle were known as “Cocaine Cowboys” (par.3). It was a time where it wasn’t unusual to see and hear about drug related deaths. Brian De Palma captured all of this by his utilization of editing style and application of precise mise-en-scene.
Vittorio De Sica’s greatest neorealist film was Bicycle Thief. De Sica’s Bicycle Thief combines all of th...
The Godfather is the “dark-side of the American dream story” (Turan, pp2). The film follows the practices of a fictional Italian mafia family, the Corleone’s. Though most Americans do not condone the practices of the Italian mafia, they cannot deny that Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather is a cinematic masterpiece. This film gave insight to a mysterious way of life that the average person does not have knowledge of. As the audience is educated about the mafia they also are introduced to many stereotypes.
In the period between 1943 and 1950 Italian cinema was dominated by Neorealism which became the most significant film style of post-war Europe. Formation began back in 1936 when propagandists opened modern Cincitta studios and the film school name ‘Centro Sperimentaledi Cinematografia’. Along with the opening of schools such as this was a movement that placed a group of cinematographers under full-year contracts, among them was Carlo Montuori who used his classic techniques in creating ‘Bicycle Thieves’ (1948) one of the most well known films produced during the Neo-Realism movement. Perhaps also one of the most influential directors was Roberto Rossellini who directed Rome Open City at the end of WWII. Many directors and influential films such as this began to change and shape the way Italian films were made and what their relation to society was like.
The Bicycle Thief is a portrait of Italy's collective consciousness, haunted by its disturbing past and disillusioned towards its future. Works Cited for: "The ' URL:http://www.film.queensu.ca/Critical/Bonikowski.html.
The film “Taxi Driver” is a true undertaking of the human longing to fit in, and be adequate. It depicts all aspects of this, by showing the triumph of Travis’s heroic emancipation of Iris, and the failure of the assassination of the presidential candidate Palentine. “Taxi Driver” shows all of this in a least expected but very beautiful way, it is a timeless ballad to all unsure, astray, and wandering personalities.
After Scorsese’s father asking him a question about a character, a young Martin raised his fingers to make an impression of him shooting a gun. This image is one of the most memorable images in Scorsese’s film Taxi Driver, where we see Robert De Niro repeating the same image pointing to his temples. This image is shown at the height of the film. When Scorsese got a television at home, no more did he have to leave his house to engross himself in the most recent movie best seller. Already we can see Scorsese’s love of filmmaking from an extremely young
The Godfather is most notably one of the most prolific films of its time. This "gangster" film displayed many transformations of permeating color to give the viewer observable cues in its mise en scene that drew one right into the movie. The dramatic acting set the tone of the film with a score that lifted the viewer right out of their seat in many scenes. The directing and cinematography made The Godfather ahead of its time. The nostalgic feel of family importance and the danger of revenge lets us into the life of the Mafia. Even though no other techniques would have given the viewer a feeling of inside the mob like the mise en scene of the power the godfather held, the characters are reinforced literally and figuratively because the story views the Mafia from the inside out, and the cinematography of the film gives it a dangerous and nostalgic feel.
The aim of this report is to discuss Italian Neorealism (Neorealismo); looking at how the movement played a significant element in European cinema during and after the times of Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime. The report not only looks at how but why Neorealism became a growing phenomenon for filmmakers during its debatable 10 year period, and what implication of messages these Neorealist directors were trying to send out through their films. Backed up by several reliable book sources, the evidence for this report will also highlight the influences Neo-realism has created in modern filmmaking today.