The French film critic Andre Bazin wrote of Vittorio De Sica,"To explain De Sica, we must go back to the source of his art, namely, his tenderness, his love. The quality shared in common by Miracle in Milan and The Bicycle Thief...is the author's inexhaustible affection for his characters." Born in 1902 in Sora, near Rome, Vittorio De Sica spent his early years in Naples. His father, Umberto De Sica, was a bank clerk and former journalist who knew many show business people and used these contacts
the psychological, physical and economical effects that were faced in a Post World War II society. Italian Neorealism was aimed to show the adverse outcomes; including hopelessness, pauperism and inequity — caused by the war. The Bicycle Thief (Vittorio De Sica, 1948), is a film set in such a society; post-war Italy. The main character, Antonio Ricci, tries to find work to fend for his family; wife and two children. When he finally finds an opportunity, the job requires him to have a bicycle. His wife
issues and describes the lives of the poor side of the society. Vittorio de Sica (1901-1974) was an Italian actor, director and auteur during period after Second World War. In Italy neorealism in the cinema started with a film called Rome, Open City (1945) by Roberto Rosellini another famous director, writer and neorealist. Umberto D. (1952) a film created by Vittorio de Sica is considered to be the end of the movement. Vittorio de Sica is famous for his films Bicycle Thieves and Umberto D....
last and some overlap with one another. One of the phases Italian cinema went through was Neorealism. Like everything else, every phase comes to an end. Vittorio De Sica’s Umberto D was considered the moving away from Neorealism in Italian cinema history. Umberto D did, however, carry aspects of neorealism just as Bicycle Thief, also by Vittorio De Sica, does during the prime of Neorealism. Neorealism had appeared right after the end of World War II and was started by Roberto Rosselini, the father
BICYCLE THIEVES Bicycle Thieves (1948), is nowadays considered by many film critics, one of the greatest masterpieces of Italian Neorealist cinema, and, on his debut, the film by De Sica managed to have a greater international success being awarded the Oscar for best foreign film in 1949. But to understand why this film can be considered a Neorealist film, we must first identify the characteristics of the Neo-realist art. The main characteristics of Neorealism are similar, for certain aspects,
traits of neorealist style included, but were not limited to: the use of working class characters (non-professional actors); the use of real locations as settings; and open, oftentimes unhappy, endings. In the closing scene from Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948), all three of these neorealist elements are present. In this scene, we can easily identify the father, Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani), and the son, Bruno (Enzo Staiola) as working class characters. Further research leads us to discover
In order to capture the hardships of everyday life in a shattered nation, Italian filmmakers in the instant post-war period created their own cinematic language. However revolutionary in impact, the new realism was not a complete halt with the past. Its origins went deep, to the work of directors in Italy and afar which, over preceding decades, had foreshadowed the themes and formal revolution of a style that would be developed to become one of cinema’s most influential movements. Neo-realist films
a iconic example of Italian neorealism. (Shiel)1. This essay will explore how neorealism is a rich movement of art, complexity and human truthfulness, that resonates for us powerfully through watching Bicycle Thieves, a 1948 film directed by Vittorio De Sica, a story about a impoverished father searching for his stolen bicycle, the key to his family’s well-being. The aftermath and The opening scene of a crowd of unemployed men flocking around an officer who is announcing a job offer shows the distress
unorthodox techniques of filmmaking and representation in the 1940s and 1950s. The movement is known as the Italian neorealism and there can be found more than twenty classical neorealist films from the period. Bicycle Thieves (1948) by the director Vittorio De Sica is among the top from the movement, as it concentrates on the difficulties of Italian difficult economical and moral sufferings, such as neglect, injustice, and solidarity, through stylistic techniques that characterize Italian neorealism. Italian
everyday problems of its citizens. Following Mussolini’s fall from power in 1943 filmmakers had a new freedom, until then movies were heavily censored to project a positive image of Italy, now filmmakers like Roberto Rossellini (1906 -1977), Vittorio De Sica (1902 – 1974) and Luchino Visconti (1906 – 1976) were give freedom to explore social, political and economic problems faced by the population. Now began a new kind of cinema, capturing the realities of the people, ‘the basic tenets of this movement
	Another fine example of neorealism is The Bicycle Thief (1948), written by Cesare Zavattini and directed by Vittorio De Sica. The narrative of this film unfolds in post-W.W.II times. The film is a portrait of the post-war Italian disadvantaged class (the majority) in their search for self-respect. It is a time of struggle for the Italian people, amplified by a shortage of employment and lack of social services. In the first scenes of the film, these conditions are evident as Antonio Ricci (Lamberto
Neorealism never got more genuine than in Vittorio de Sica's 1948 great Ladri di Biciclette, or Bicycle Thieves - at times mistranslated as "The Bicycle Thief", however the plural is without a doubt significant. Things being what they are there are two cheats: one at the motion picture's starting, another at its end. This investigation of neediness in after war Rome is currently resuscitated in silver screens as a fairly astringent Yuletide treat. For me, it is as insufferable as any blood and gore
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
The Films Bicycle Thieves, The Earth Trembles, and Rome, Open City, represent morality and emphasis of emotions, which are main principles of Italian Neorealism. These principles are used to illustrate the new direction in filmmaking that seeks to reveal the reality of post world war two Italy. The neorealist movement was a grown breaking evolution that planted its roots in Italy at the end of world war two. This movement was a reaction to the arduous time that was filled with political strife
imposed on somebody who is convicted of a crime. The two movies that are being compared and contrasted is I soliti ignoti (Big Deal on Madonna Street, 1958), filmed by Mario Monicelli and Ladri di biciclette (Bicycle Thieves, 1948), filmed by Vittorio De Sica. Both Bicycle Thieves and Big Deal on Madonna Street ushered in a new era of film. This allows two movies to accomplish similar goals in two completely different ways. What the movies have in common is the neorealist settings, character structure
create an emotional template of honesty and truth. The story depicted by the film is wondrously simple; the film portrays that in a world like the one where the workman lives, poor people must steal among themselves so as to survive (Tumasulo 1). Vittorio De Sica was the director of The Bicycle Thieves and his films and the style used on them led to the Italian Neorealist movement together Roberto Rossellini's film; Rome: Open City, which gave a new measure of realism to cinema (Snyder and Howard 139)
De Sica’s neorealist film “Bicycle Thieves” is an encompassing piece that details the undue hardship Italy faces postwar 1948. There are various aspects within the film, which demonstrate the undeniable pure quality of De Sica’s work, however, I believe the relationship between father and son, and gender roles are most critical to examine in this particular motion picture. Antonio Ricci, played by Lamberto Maggiorani, and Bruno, portrayed by Enzo Staiola, are two central figures within the film.
Italian neorealism, a film movement pioneered in Italy is recognised by its use of non professional actors, being shot on location, and plots concerning the working class or the impoverished. Italian neorealist films dealt with difficulties faced everyday by the working class; the stories were prompted by the conditions left after the second world war, and they often had open ended narratives. Stylistically the films were loose, fluid, often documentary-like.[1] Neorealist pioneer, Cesare Zavattini
The Bicycle Thief "The Bicycle Thief" is a deeply moving neo-realist study of post-War Italy which depicts one man's loss of faith and his struggle to maintain personal dignity in poverty and bureaucratic indifference. Antonio Ricci is a bill-poster whose bicycle, essential for his job, is stolen by a thief. Joined by his son Bruno, Antonio vainly searches for his bike, eventually resorting to the humiliation of theft himself. Throughout this paper, I will attempt to trace
Bicycle Thieves is considered an example of Italian Neo-realism. The plot demonstrates Italians of the working class in Italy and unfolds their day to day lives. One could argue it portray the reality and develops into an emotional storyline towards the end. Antonio, the main character is offered a job requiring a bicycle and on his first day it was stolen on the streets. You immediately feel drawn to the character as you want to see a happy ending. Watching the film, automatically feel sorry for