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Plot: A man and his son search for a stolen bicycle vital for his job.
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:August 6, 2008a simple but profound story that is part father/son story and part profile of the soul of a desperate man. there have certainly been more telling and detailed film searches of the human soul in the last 60 years, but this is still considered one of the great films of all time because it was so transparent for its time. without some knowledge of foreign film the brilliance of this would be lost on most american movie fans, but this is a must watch for all serious movie fans.
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MCT:August 5, 2008
Classic older Italian film about a man who needs his bicycle for his job. When it is stolen, he has no means to provide for his family.
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MCT:July 19, 2008Vittorio de Sica's most memorable piece of film-makng. Should be seen by everyone. Realistic :-(
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MCT:July 17, 2008Highly overrated story of a dumbass loser whose whole world is dependent on his bicycle, which, because he is an incredibly extra stupid dumbass loser, gets stolen, at which time he begins to suddenly realize that his whole world is dependent on his bicycle. You're supposed to feel sorry for the dude, but I just wanted to shoot him.
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MCT:July 12, 2008
Dark, vexing & pessimistic. Vittorio De Sica's masterpiece is anything but uplifting. It's one of those rare films that simultaneously fascinate and dishearten. I loved it but, at the same time, it made me want to slit my wrists.
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MCT:June 23, 2008
It's a touching story with a moving portrait of after-war life in Rome... The little boy has something special in his eyes.
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MCT:June 18, 2008
A great movie from the neorealist Italian cinema period. It describes a life after war and a position of unemployed middle class man who's whole life depenese on a bicycle that has been stolen. Throughout the movie you see a relationship between his son and him. The boy as well as the main actor had played their roles brilliantly!
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MCT:June 11, 2008
Hard times after a major war- De Sica and the neo-realists had great motivation and material. Everyone is on edge and hates to be accused of being a thief. Some have given everything they can and made sacrifices to improve their family's life. Most people probably cannot imagine what they would do if a tragedy occurred and desperation set in within this environment. The church and fortune tellers cannot really help with the practical matters of life, and police may try to help keep the peace but they can only do so much. So you can only count on yourself and still you may fail. Yes, that's lonely and isolating, but you are the one who has to search and put one foot in front of the other on the journey. Hopefully there will be someone (like Bruno) by your side when you need them.
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MCT:June 4, 2008
simple, concise, and tragic in peak neorealist style. a bare, honest look at humanity--its anger, its desperation, its raw emotion, and its overwhelming sensation of hopelessness and defeat. an innocent look at a not-so-innocent world, this film is a true Italian masterpiece.
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MCT:June 3, 2008
I just watched Vittorio de Sica's "The Bicycle Thief", and I have to say that it is easily the best film I have seen (perhaps tied with a couple others). Amazing, amazing stuff. I can't even describe how exhilarating it was to experience each and every moment. I feel like writing essays and essays about it, but I find myself muted by Lamberto Maggiorani's wonderfully earthy performance! And unlike a friend, I found the ending wonderfully poetic and moving and not at all abrupt. An extraordinary cinematic achievement that does not get lost with time, unlike some others. I'll never forget the way Antonio and Bruno melt into the crowd at the end. It's almost like symbolism!
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MCT:June 2, 2008
Awesome movie - one of my very top favourites. And the kid's acting puts the icing on the cake really.
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MCT:May 31, 2008
I really respect and enjoy this tragic and personal study, but is it really a top 10-15 movie all time? That's up for debate. It's 1940's in Rome and work is hard to come by for desperate father and husband Antonio Ricci. His luck finally seems to be changing however once he gets an opportunity for a job hanging posters, he just needs one vital thing...a bicycle. Putting all his chips on the table, he sells off some of his valuable possessions, and is able to get the necessary bike. His job then takes off and he's truly happy, but a thief steals his bicycle on the first day. The rest of the story is his attempt to find his bike, which becomes increasingly desperate. Even though it involves a lost bike and even a psychic, this is no "Pee Wee's Big Adventure". Instead this is a look into the soul of man both good and bad, and the devastating realities of the harsh world. In fact, it relies a good deal on these things, but in my opinion the simple plot line could have dug deeper to permeate the symbolism and emotion even more. Still, it's hard to not feel some connection with Ricci by the ending, as we are put into his shoes and asked to wonder "what would I do?". It's not for the quick paced, flashy generation of today, but those who are patient and enjoy an ethical study should be rewarded with a thought-provoking resonance.
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MCT:May 20, 2008morals have changed soooooo much!!! wow. to think that stealing would cause such personal pain... Sica is overrated. this aint great. Bruno is a dream child tho... too bad he gets abused. that was a deduction, the kid was so cute.
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MCT:May 11, 2008
A true milestone in early cinema. A must view if you are interested in film. Heartbreaking yet beautiful.
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MCT:May 11, 2008
Never has so much depended upon so little. A poor man in Post-war Italy loses his bicycle during his first day on the job. The remainder of the film is spent in his futile attempts to try and recover it. The bike is not just a means of transportation, its the golden ticket that will lift a poverty stricken family out of the gutter. Eventually, the man, staring starvation in the eye, tries to steal a bicycle himself. An attempt which sadly fails.
While the plot may seem absurdly simple, far too simple for Hollywood nowadays, the soul purpose of this film is to get across the profound tragedy and isolation of the main character. The movie is entirely shot in Rome with its grand, bombed out architecture and its unemployed poor which only adds to the genuine feel of the character's desperation. There are some great scenes here like the restaurant sequence and when he confronts the supposed thief. For me though the shot of Tony, sobbing, with his young son in hand as they walk down the busy thoroughfare, surrounded by the gray mass of post-war Italian society really captures the film. It almost brought me to tears myself.
Hailed again and again as one of the great classics of film, the true genius of The Bicycle Thief is how it creates such a profound and compelling story using a simple hinge and minimal acting experience. -
MCT:May 10, 2008
This is a good movie that takes a simple idea (a stolen bicycle) and really runs with it. The performances are great and you really feel for the characters.
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MCT:May 6, 2008
"There's a cure for everything except death."
I know I'm in the severe minority here, but The Bicycle Thief is a film I found to be just tolerable as opposed to great. The film is a poignant character study that was an intrepid move at the time of its release. Critics have hailed it as being an all-time classic and the film even won a special Oscar at the Academy Awards of 1949.
I thought The Bicycle Thief was an extraordinarily good drama that delivers a powerful message; however I felt that the whole film built up to an inadequate conclusion. People may say that this is missing the point of the movie. But if it has a point to convey I expected it to be delivered faster as opposed to stretching out the whole thing for 90 minutes. For this message I felt it could have come and gone in less than an hour. I mean we all know that bicycles are stolen constantly and are sometimes found. Anyone could tell you that. So why did the filmmakers have to interminably drag out the movie? I enjoy a good classic drama. This one just couldn't grasp my interest in amidst delivering its message.
The film's plot is fairly straightforward: set in Rome succeeding the conclusion of World War II, jobs are very scarce. It is every man's dream to find themselves a job and earn money to support their family. We follow a man named Antonio Ricci (Maggiorani) who lives with this wife and son. Antonio is given a job as someone who hangs posters around the city. But he needs a bicycle. Although out of funds, they are forced to sacrifice a few household items in order to possess the required cash to obtain a bicycle. As the title would suggest, Antonio's luck soon runs out when his bicycle is stolen. The film is then a tale of Antonio and his son Bruno (Staiola) as they search for the stolen bicycle.
I am in two states of mind about this film. On the one hand, The Bicycle Thief is an excellent movie that delivers an uncompromising, unconventional message. Despite this, I still found the movie to be far too dragged out considering it was just going to deliver this certain, simple message. I liked some of the drama throughout and thought its un-clichéd temperament was bold. Although bold, it was still abundantly unsatisfying.
Surprisingly, the movie was made with all the roles being filled with non-actors. This isn't very obvious because I thought all the performances were absolutely superb. Maggiorani displays a wide range of emotions and is very engaging in his role. The desperation in his eyes is obvious at times, with some scenes being truly unforgettable. The most memorable moment of the movie would have to be the scene in the restaurant that conveys desperation, happiness and the gulf between rich and poor in just a few minutes. Young Staiola is also very good as little Bruno. It's his performance that captures the heart of the movie. The film is not really about the bicycle. It was a portrait of father and son with the mutual concern of dignity and respect.
This film is a beautiful portrait of course. I just wish that it wasn't so stretched out and wasn't so depressing. I understand that it was a perfect way to portray reality, but I guess I just watch too many happy films. It was a nice change of scenery, though.
One important aspect that must be mentioned is the filmmakers have made the city of Rome an actual character in the film. They exhibit the city of Rome with its beautiful churches contrasted with the poverty and effects of the war in a way that would be impossible to replicate by any Hollywood studio.
The Bicycle Thief has been regarded as a classic film that will always be one of the greatest movies of all time. I bitterly disagree with that statement. Regardless of me strongly disagreeing I still found the movie to be a beautiful human portrait created by a director who excels at his craft. -
MCT:April 6, 2008
Simplicity at its most poignant display on screen. A laco of any overt action or histrionic display never distracts this movie of the fall of man's relative manhood in a society where you are worth as much as you can get away with and nothing more. A society that is bleak, that is lost and where each person is really nothing more than cattle. It's amazing how there is no usage of melodrama here and where its raw images never imply a crushing ending but develops into a tale of karmic peril, of hope and despair always cohabiting side by side.
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MCT:March 29, 2008
The greatest of all Italian neo-realist films. It's completely heartbreaking. Never would you think that such a (not quite so) mundane thing like getting one's bike stolen could sink someone to the lowest end of poverty. "To think if I had my bicycle, how much I would be making today." This quote brought tears to my eyes.
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MCT:March 3, 2008
One of the masterpieces by De Sica. Everyone knows about this one so I won't elaborate. Just that its a beautiful watch...
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MCT:February 23, 2008
A gritty, heart wrenching, realistic film. It amazed me how all of the characters had never been actors. A really outstanding film.
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MCT:February 8, 2008
Una alegoría del bien y el mal, donde el bien no es hacer lo correcto sino lo que los demás juzgan como correcto... la filosofía de masas como señora de la ética; un mismo acto no sólo con diferentes consecuencias, sino con diferentes juicios de bondad. Algunas escenas perturbadoras para su epoca, como la persecusión en plena misa o la pregunta del padre a su hijo: es bueno el equipo del Modena? Y el gesto de negativa por respuesta. Excelente película.
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MCT:February 5, 2008
Phenomenal film on morality. Absolutely heartbreaking. A must see for anyone who believes in the power of film and the dark side of humanity.
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MCT:February 5, 2008
i watched this a few years ago so im reviewing it off memory but as i remember it was quite an endering heart warming film about the struggles of the poor in italy and of a man trying to get work to support his family, also about his relationship with his young son who looks up to him. it was a bit slow so i think you need to be in the right mood to enjoy it.
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nadataufikposted 290 days ago -
