![Bicycle Thieves [1948] [VHS]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51FP26JYEFL.jpg)
Product Description Italian drama co-written and directed by Vittorio De Sica which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1949. The film tells the story of Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani), a working-class Italian living just above the poverty line in Rome. Things begin to look up for Antonio when he finally lands a job as a bill-sticker, although his happiness is short-lived as his bicycle, which is essential for the promised job, is stolen. With his family's future in the balance, Antonio and his son Bruno (Enzo Staiola) set off on a journey across the city in a desperate bid to find those responsible and reclaim the precious bike. From .co.uk Vittorio De Sica's remarkable 1947 drama of desperation and survival in Italy's devastating post-war depression earned a special Oscar for its affecting power. Shot in the streets and alleys of Rome, De Sica uses a real-life environment to frame his moving drama of a desperate father whose new job delivering cinema posters is threatened when a street thief steals his bicycle. Too poor to buy another, he and his son take to the streets in an impossible search for his bike. Cast with non-professional actors and filled with the real street life of Rome, this landmark film helped define the Italian neorealist approach with its mix of real life details, poetic imagery, and warm sentimentality. De Sica uses the wandering pair to witness the lives of everyday folks, but ultimately he paints a quiet, poignant portrait of father and son, played by Lamberto Maggiorani and Enzo Staiola, whose understated performances carry the heart of the film. De Sica and scenarist Cesare Zavattini also collaborated on Shoeshine, Miracle in Milan, and Umberto D, all classics in the neorealist vein, but none of which approach the simple poetry and quiet power achieved in The Bicycle Thieves. --Sean Axmaker
R**S
The theft of movement, the loss of mobility. ...
The theft of mobility, the loss of movement. A corrupt state content to turn away. Crime pays when the law is a savage. Ah, jeez, give him his bike back I screamed at the auld one. The bikes are whistling past everywhere. It's desperate. Poverty and hardship are no place to live... I said all this to big Jim O'Dwyer at his hardware shop and he was after throwing a spatular at me. He said, don't come back either. There was a bit of a que now in fairness. I'll try him again tomorrow. xx
Z**N
One of my 5 top movies of all time!
A timeless classic of how adversity can change your filter on life.During the recession a man is struggling to get a job until he finally lands one. Putting up ad's on boards and his only accomplice being his trusted bike. The glimmer of hope is soon transformed into darkness, after his bike is stolen during a job.This sets the backdrop for the movie as the man starts walking the streets with his son with the hope of finding his bike. Desperation and frustration is all but evident in the characters portrayal of a struggling father that is trying his best to provide for his family during a recession.His relationship with his son grows throughout the film as his son tries to provide the much needed hope and encouragement he needs to pursue his search.I love this film, i just wish i found it earlier!
A**R
and really enjoyed this. I purchased The Bicycles Thieves thinking it ...
I purchased Rififi, which had English sub-titles, and really enjoyed this. I purchased The Bicycles Thieves thinking it would also have English sub-titles, which it did not. I even checked the TV's setting 'Italian Film with English sub-titles', but nothing.There are a number of films which look good and I would purchase them if I knew they had the sub-titles.
B**B
For want of a bicycle.
For want of a bicycle, a job was lost. For want of a job, a lifeline was lost. For want of a lifeline, a family unit sank into despair.The director keeps a commanding eye on the story, praiseworthy all the way to the end.A post-war family on their knee's, whose reality based aspirations seek only the daily basics- food, togetherness and hope.
D**Y
I was a bit bored to begin with but then really got into it
I think this is a known as a film-buff's film but that's not me. I watched it more out of an interest in bicycles. This film certainly brings it home how important the bicycle was in that time and place.Story wise, I was a bit bored to begin with but then really got into it. This is no spoiler but the final scene in the marketplace (the father and son walking together) is very moving. Incredible acting in that scene.
H**.
Cry the beloved country
A totally convincing and heart rending account of the poverty and degradation suffered by ordinary Italians before the Second World War. Stellar performances from all the actors, old and young.
W**O
Classic, but you know this anyway.
Beautiful movie. There is something magical about movies being shot in b&wi n glorious sunshine.
B**X
An excellent film to make you think!
If you want a film to make you mad, reflective and then angry; this is the one. This film really pulls at your emotions and your loyalties to the characters. I am still debating whether he was a victim of the situation or a victim of his own laziness. Definitely, one to watch in a film group for an excellent debate, but it does have subtitles.
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