The Bicycle Thief (1948)

LADRI DI BICICLETTE

Cast & Credits
Ricci: Lamberto Maggiorani
Bruno: (Ricci's son) Enzo Staiola
Maria: (Ricci's wife) Lianella Carell

Directed by Vittorio De Sica. Written by Cesare Zavattini and De Sica.
In Italian with English subtitles.

Given an honorary Oscar in 1949, routinely voted one of the greatest films of all time, revered as one of the foundation stones of Italian neorealism, this is a simple, powerful film about a man who needs a job. Think of it as a movie for our time. Watch it to see what many Americans live with every day trying to support their families in these times. Or, watch it for the art of it, for the love of film. Set in post-World War II Rome, The Bicycle Thief tells a simple story. There are no subplots, there are a few key characters, the dialogue is the day-to-day talk of people struggling to survive. It stars Lamberto Maggiorani, not a professional actor, as Ricci, a man who joins a hopeless queue every morning looking for work. One day there is a job, for a man with a bicycle. So we follow the fortune of Antonio, a family man whose wife pawns their household linens so that they can reclaim from the same pawnshop a bicycle that is required for this new job. The bicycle is stolen on Antonio's first day of work and he and his young son search the streets of Rome in hopes of recovering it. A series of frustrating episodes mark the day, tension and desperation growing as chances for recovering the bicycle, and with it, their dashed hopes, fade. The events of the day, from a confrontation with a suspect and his neighbors, to a respite with an ill afforded restaurant meal, to a visit to a fortune teller have a cumulative effect. There is a surprise ending as the bicycle thief is exposed. Find it at Netflix. -Kendall