Bicycle Thieves
Composite Score: 82.6
Starring: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell, Gino Saltamerenda, Giulio Chiari, and Vittorio Antonucci
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Writers: Cesare Zavattini, Oreste Biancoli, Suso D’Amico, Vittorio De Sica, Adolfo Franci, Gherardo Gherardi, and Gerardo Guerrieri
Genres: Drama, Realist, Slice of Life, Crime
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Box Office: $436,655 worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Bicycle Thieves is an Italian neorealist film based on Luigi Bartolini’s novel of the same name about a working-class man in post-war Italy whose bike is stolen while he is out working. The film highlights the plight of working-class Italians following World War II and depicts the rampant corruption, desperation, and struggle from that time with a humanizing realism. The performances of Lamberto Maggiorani and Enzo Staiola as Antonio and his son Bruno bring emotional and empathetic weight to the story as they portray these characters struggling to get by, for whom the possession of a bicycle can mean the difference between starvation and food on the table. The film’s slow pace is countered by a climax that is near perfect in its execution, leaving the film fresh in its audience’s mind long after it ends. Constantly listed among the Greatest Films of All Time, Bicycle Thieves invites watching and rewatching.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
As with most films from this particular era of Italian cinema, Bicycle Thieves takes a while to get anywhere meaningful, making its first acts feel a bit plodding at times as the characters, setting, and situation are methodically established to allow the film’s climax to take its toll. Unfortunately, for many viewers, this method of slow establishment and methodical storytelling might feel too slow to warrant sticking it through to the film’s rewarding conclusion. Don’t go into Bicycle Thieves expecting some crime thriller in the vein of Catch Me If You Can or The French Connection. This film centers around crime not as a genre or plot device but as an everyday part of life, sometimes even necessary for survival. While its pacing might upset some viewers, sticking it out through the end will be well worth it.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
For one, the untrained actors playing the lead characters deliver ideal performances for their roles, as they were playing characters very similar to their own experiences. Lamberto Maggiorani’s Antonio feels authentically working-class and deeply connected to his own struggle because Maggiorani was working as a factory worker before being cast in the role. His emotional beats with his wife and son on screen and his desperation to find his stolen bicycle to keep a job most likely were very relatable sentiments to him, and he was able to portray them in a way that brings them home to a modern audience as well. Similarly, Bruno’s actor Enzo Staiola was hired off the street and brings an authentic, mature, and emotional performance as Antonio’s son who accompanies him on his quest to retrieve his stolen bicycle. Together, the leading duo sell the film’s authenticity and help the audience connect with the emotionally draining desperation of the characters.
I have already mentioned this, but it warrants deeper discussion. Bicycle Thieves has one of the most perfectly depicted and executed climaxes I have ever watched. The set up of the first hour or so of the film, though slow, has the audience rooting for Antonio to succeed but perhaps not in the way that his desperation drives him in the film’s final moments. The twisting of the audience’s desires against their own (probably) morality helps showcase the way that the on-screen situations – and the real situations of the lower classes in 1940s Italy – can drive people to make drastic choices. Ultimately, the film’s ending leaves the audience satisfied but in a very dissatisfying way, if that makes sense. It delivers a form of justice to the audience, but an imperfect one, just like the justice offered to Antonio.
A perfectly executed final act and climax portrayed skillfully by its two amateur leads leaves the audience equally satisfied and pensive at the end of Bicycle Thieves, an ideal combination for a film in this particular niche, which makes its place among the Greatest Films of All Time make perfect sense. Though some more action-minded audiences might take issue with the film’s slow build-up, those who stick it through will be rewarded with a beautifully executed final act. This film is currently available to stream on HBO Max – check it out when you get the chance.
