Ladri di biciclette (1948) - film review

In post-war Rome, jobs are scarce and families are starving.  When he is offered a job putting up posters for the town council, Antonio Ricci willingly accepts, even though it requires him to provide his own bicycle.  Ricci manages to scrape together enough money to reclaim his pawned bicycle and he looks forward to his first paid job in months.   However, on his first day at work, the bicycle is stolen and Ricci has no other option but to try to recover it.  With his young son, Bruno, he sets out to search the city for the stolen bicycle on which so much depends...

Vittorio De Sica’s undisputed masterpiece, Ladri di Biciclette is widely considered to be one of the most important films made in Italy, and often figures in the list of the world’s top ten greatest films.  Along with Roberto Rossellini’s Rome, Open City (1945), it defined the emerging trend towards neo-realism, the movement which contributed to the growing international acclaim of Italian cinema in the following two decades.  The film itself was so well-received when it was first released in America with the title The Bicycle Thief that it won a special Oscar in 1949, seven years before the Best Foreign Film category was introduced.

Although modest in its choice of subject and cinematic style, Ladri di Biciclette is a work of profound humanity which leaves an indelible impression on its spectator.  It is a film which shows us the best and worst in human nature, informs us about the strength and fallibility of the human spirit under circumstances of extreme penury and moves even the most hard-bitten and cynical of us to tears.   It speaks universal truths, in simple language, with gentle irony and even some humour, making it accessible to cinema-goers across the world.   How could losing a bicycle could be such a big deal?   This film answers that question with great force and has no difficulty convincing us that, for one man and his young family, the recovery of the stolen bicycle is the most important thing in the world.

At its simplest, the film is a remarkably powerful morality tale.  The painfully simple conclusion is that it is better to be honest and go hungry than resort to crime whatever the provocation.  In a moment of despair, Ricci feels he has no other option but to resort to theft himself to resolve his situation – but, as he soon discovers, that path leads him to even great despair and humiliation.   The way in which this final segment of the film is constructed and filmed is remarkable, attaining an almost unbearable level of dramatic tension, followed by a swoop of utmost shock and then sudden relief.   The film’s closing shot of solemn resignation offers a power evocation of the simplest message, one which can be found in virtually all neo-realist cinema: life can be tough, unfair, but we have to make the best of it.

© James Travers 2002

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