Vittorio de Sica's The Bicycle Thief
Since the beginning of its existence as a country, Italy has faced enormous challenges in establishing itself as a unified political and social entity. The geographic, economic, and linguistic differences between its various regions and the artificial manner in which they were amalgamated created a legacy of internal divisions that continues to dominate the country's political climate to this day. Italy's numerous historical fiascoes, such as its disastrous involvement in the two World Wars and the rise of fascism, further escalated the domestic problems that had haunted it since the Risorgimento. At first, the anti-fascist Resistance movement, which dominated the end of World War II, seemed to bring Italy a ray of hope, promising a new era of freedom, reform, and democratic representation. However, this hope was quickly extinguished, as widespread poverty, government corruption, and deep divisions between regions and classes persisted and no true social reform was attained. These harsh conditions were depicted by a group of Italian film directors whose neorealist works have since been celebrated as masterpieces of world cinema. One of the most prominent of these is Vittorio De Sica's The Bicycle Thief. This 1948 film discusses the prevalent themes dominating Italy's social and political history, within the context of the unsettlingly poor post-War urban proletariat.
Among the most prominent motifs in Italian politics since the Risorgimento has been a tendency for quasi-action (inaction disguised as action), in the form of transformismo and attendismo. The first of these terms refers to the practice of "assuring the government of an adequate majority in parliament either by a prelimina...
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This somber conclusion of the film seems to be an expression of hopelessness for Italy's future. By 1948, the country had gone through a series of tumultuous historical events, caused by the inadequacy of its political and economic system. The disillusionment of its citizens with the system and in fact with the very concept of their nation was taken to its limits by yet another failure to achieve true social change after World War II. The transformismo of the Christian Democrats and the attendismo of the Communists offered no hope for Italians, appearing as just another stage in the country's endless cycle of political and social failure. The Bicycle Thief is a portrait of Italy's collective consciousness, haunted by its disturbing past and disillusioned towards its future.
Works Cited;
URL:http://www.film.queensu.ca/Critical/Bonikowski.html
Ginsborg P (1990). ‘A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics: 1943-1980’ Published by Penguin; Reprint edition (27 Sep 1990).
Multiple historians have touched on the change in government during Fascist Italy’s reign in World War II. In Italian Fascism: Its Origins and Development, Alexander De Grand clarifies the many promises Benito Mussolini fabricated for the Italian people in order to get them to join his cause such as the improvement on poverty with the rise of a new Roman Empire. De Grand also gives an opposite view, with some citizens seeing Fascism as a “model of efficiency.” In Melton S. Davis’ Who Defends Rome?, t...
The Giant Panda is a creature of mystery. Adults and children alike appreciate it for its cute, fuzzy, lovable qualities, but it is an animal that is in desperate need of immediate attention. Scientists know the basics: how and what they eat, where and how they live, and how they reproduce. The fact remains, however, that this universally loved national symbol of China is facing the threat of extinction. What accounts for this fact and what can be or is being done to protect the panda from such a fate? This paper will discuss the characteristics and lifestyle of the panda as well as issues and questions that arise as a result of the threat of their extinction.
Putnam, Robert. 1993a. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
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In this paper I will discuss the cultural factors and economic conditions within the territory of Italy and specifically within the island of Sicily which led to the rise and every day common need for an institution such as the Sicilian Mafia. Following my explanation of the Sicilian Mafia’s origins in the context of local culture and its pervasive role in Sicilian society I will discuss the various ways in which the Mafia’s activities have at times greatly preserved and also crippled the economic potential for growth in the areas it operated in and the reasons why this underdevelopment aided it. Lastly I will examine the causes of the Sicilian Mafia’s decline and discuss the future solutions to preserving a Sicily free from overt Mafia control.
Before the dawn of Neorealism, Italy was under great turmoil in the early 1920s suffering from major economic crisis, bank failures and a collapsing government, which would also mean a collapse in the Italian film industry and the ‘Silent Era’ of cinema (Roberts, 2005). When Benito Mussolini took control as the 40th Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 the revival of Italian cinema would be once again be relived, but this time ruled under the control and guidance by Mussolini and his fascist government (Bondanella, 2001).
Photograph by Joel Sartore, National Geographic Photo Ark. "Red Panda." National Geographic. 19 May 2017. Web. 19 May 2017.
The home of pandas can be found in the remote, mountainous regions of China. To be specific, they inhabit the broadleaf and coniferous forests, which are filled with a dense understory of bamboo. The torrential rains and dense mist makes the forests wet and cool – just as pandas like it! They're a temperate and humid biome, and have distinct summers and winters. Pandas are able to climb as high as 13,000 feet to feed on higher slopes during the summer season. The giant panda was once widespread throughout southern and eastern China, as well as Burma and northern Vietnam. But the growth of human population and other developments has restricted the species to o...
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