Review
The Bicycle Thief
- Director
- Vittorio De Sica
- Year
- 1948
- Rating
- Reviewed by
- José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris
- Review date
- Sunday, July 22, 2001
Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani) has been unemployed for months. Suddenly he is offered a job which requires him to use his bicycle. Soon after he starts working, a man steals it from him. Thus starts a search for his bicycle throughout the streets of Rome aided by his young son Bruno (Enzo Staiola).
The Bicycle Thief is one of the simplest movies in the history of cinema. It is unpretentious and goes to the point. It is a movie about one man’s search for his dignity. A movie about the things a man is capable to do in order to survive.
Antonio is a poor man with a family to sustain. And it is not an easy world the one he populates. It is an unjust world. It is a difficult environment populated by the strongest. A world that doesn’t understand. A heart-breaking place with only a couple of honest people in it. This movie shows it all with its easy-going storyline. And it is as accurate nowadays as it was then.
The father-and-son relationship is also worthy of mention. It isn’t an easy one. Both of them are going through a harsh situation seen from different points of view. Desperation and impotence bring out hidden feelings. Feelings with one central note at the core.
The final scene is one you won’t ever forget. It says so much by showing so little. It sends a universal message and ends up in a poignant note if there ever was one.
All of the actors are excellent in their roles, but it is Lamberto who leaves the strongest impression. His performance is dead-on perfect.
A classic example of Italian neorealism filmmaking, The Bicycle Thief emerges as Vittorio De Sica’s masterpiece per excellence and goes on to show how great a filmmaker he was. A master indeed!
“You live and you suffer.”
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Other reviews of The Bicycle Thief (1948): Groucho
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