The Bicycle Thief by Vittorio De Sica - Movie Review Example

THE BICYCLE THIEF Vittorio De Sica 1948 Describe and discuss the opening of this film (up until Antonio walks away with his ticket for a job) in terms of its Italian neorealistic characteristics.(technical & thematic). Consider setting, lighting, color, music, atmosphere, mood. Include a description and analysis of the introduction of our lead character, Antonio (why is he across the street? what does his costume reveal about him, body language, voice?).Remember to always extend your descriptions into a discussion of what it might mean or suggest. The opening of the film reflects the theme of Italian neorealism on economic hardships and empathetic view on the new democratic spirit of the common people. The film starts with the long shot of the bus with a group of young and old men coming out of it and the background of large residential buildings. The setting shows surroundings that are dry and hot in natural daylight. There are no trees or rich foliage. There are no signs of business activity or even happiness. The setting seems like a desert with harsh daylight revealing the paucity of the people. The color is not idealized but shows the authentic colors of the surroundings and people who inhabit it. The effect of the dry, barren atmosphere is the mood of hopelessness and poverty. The music is sad, reflecting the miserable economic degradation of Italy. The music focuses more on the anxious emotions of the people who are poor and unemployed. These men are entering a building, when a man comes out holding employment cards. The crown of unemployed men look formally dressed with suits, perhaps hoping to look their best so that they can get much-needed jobs, but these are shabby suits. They all look tired, not from work, but from waiting for work to come. The man calls Ricci, but he is across the street, possibly because he must have been waiting for a job far too long that he is not expecting any job to come for him at all. In medium shot, the deep focus shows the background of unemployed men. Ricci’s costume looks old and crumpled like the rest of the unemployed, but at least, he is managing to look presentable. His body language suggests some weakness in him, probably because of hunger or emotional duress because of unemployment. He speaks softly and candidly too. He even reveals that he does not have a bike, only to take it back because he does not want to wait “another two years” to get a job. He hurries to leave before someone else takes his job for him. The atmosphere shows Italian neorealism by showing post-World War II as it is- full of destitution and economic uncertainty. 2. How would you describe the relationship between Antonio and Maria? What specific clues are you given? There are many telling clues--but you need to watch carefully for them. Cite specific scenes and significant details to support your assertions. Antonio and Maria are happily married despite their poverty. In the scene where Antonio goes to work to report that he will be the new bill poster, he goes out of the workplace and he sees that Maria is waiting for him. He wants her to see his workplace which is big and where employees have lockers of their own. He picks her up so she can see what is inside the office by the window. The gesture is romantic because it is about sharing experiences and happiness together. Another sweet scene of them as a couple is the scene where Antonio is leaving for his first day at work. The mise-en-scene shows Antonio and Maria in their home environment. The frame includes their kitchen which looks bare. They look like a team, with Maria hurrying up to sew Antonio’s hat and giving him his omelet lunch, while Antonio is busy preparing for his first day of employment. The straight-on angle makes the audience feel that they are inside the house, feeling the domestic bliss of the couple. Maria kids Antonio that he looks like a cop, and Antonio plays with her, shaking her a bit. They stare lovingly at one another for a few minutes before Antonio gives his wife a goodbye kiss on the cheek. Antonio and Maria’s relationship, despite their happiness, is also strained by their financial difficulties. When Antonio comes home after getting the job, he looks miserable because he has no bike yet. Maria is getting water from the community pump, where many poor women like her are getting water from. She has two heavy pails of water and Antonio nearly forgets to help her carry them. They get into an argument because Maria is angry that Antonio pawned his bike, to which he answers that he has to do it or they will be hungry. The scene shows the tension between them because of extreme paucity. 3. Describe and discuss the warehouse scene, where Maria and Antonio go to sell their sheets. After WW II, Romans faced a bombed out city and extreme poverty. The working poor sold everything they could to survive--including their sheets which the government bought to subsidize them. What cinematic elements make this scene particularly powerful? Consider *double-framing, p.o.v. shots, close-ups, sound--describe when and how they are used and to what effect. The warehouse scene is filled with sheets being sold by the poor to survive. The double framing of Maria trying to get a higher price for the sheets underscores their disempowered state. In the frame of the small opening between the warehouse and the sellers, Maria looks small in the straight angle shot. In contrast, the warehouse buyer looks bigger, especially with the long shot that shows his surroundings of sheets. He is in a state of overflowing materialism, while Maria is tightly framed, showing her entrapment in poverty. The buyer looks well-dressed too with suit, vest, and tie, a sharp divergence with the majority of the population like Maria, who are selling their sheets just to have something to eat. The reaction shot highlights the difference between the working class and the upper class in clothing, hair, and manners. The diegetic musical background sounds forlorn, but not entirely miserable. After all, the money that they will get from the sheets can be used to retrieve the bike from the pawnshop. When Antonio squeezes into the window to get a bit more money from the sheets, they look so compressed in the double framing. In essence, they are trapped as a couple and parents in their economic problems. The next shot is a Dutch angle from the warehouse buyer’s behind. It shows the shabby table and the old windows, as well as the small opening where Maria and Antonio can be seen. The Riccis look so powerless in that small opening, as if they have sold the last property of value they have. The warehouse scene effectively shows the economic destitution that plagues Italy after the war. 4. What specific social commentary and/or criticismis the director Vittorio De Sica making aboutthe church? Support your answer with specific moments from the film.Again--watch and listen very carefully to what is going on in the Church scene. It seems that de Sica is criticizing the hypocrisy of the Church. An example is the scene where Antonio goes to the church where the old man runs to. The church is shaving shabby men to look presentable, which underscores the superficiality of the meaning of attending church services. In addition, the fact that the old man is there suggests that it does not matter if people go to church, because many of them are scoundrel anyway. The film is showing that being a churchgoer is not a true indicator or measure of people’s morality. In addition, the priest in the confessional hits Bruno on the head when he opens the curtains hiding the former. It suggests the brutality of the church as a moral gatekeeper. Furthermore, when the old man escapes, two young men want to stop Antonio from finding the old man because he is making a row in the church. It is ironic that they are more concerned of keeping the peace and order in the church than knowing what is going on and helping the poor like Antonio. Also, the film shows that the old man goes to church to have something to eat. But food is not available until after church services and the doors of the church are also locked to keep people from leaving. These rules reveal that the church is an organization that forces people to follow the rules without truly helping uplift the condition of their souls. When Antonio finds an open door, a number of church icons are piled up. They represent the garbage that the Church is because it is not serving a deeper purpose of helping people have truly better inward lives. 5. Describe how the relationship between Antonio and Bruno evolves (beginning, middle, end). Again--support your answer with specific moments in the film. Antonio and Bruno’s relationship evolved from being sweet and inseparable to distant and cold, although at the end, their relationship becomes stronger. A good way of showing these changes is through double framing scenes. The first double frame is at the first day of work of Antonio. The door shows the two of them saying goodbye to Maria. They look so happy. Before that, Antonio looks at Bruno lovingly and he treats his son gently. They are also inseparable as Antonio happily drives to work with Bruno on his lap in his bike. Later on, when the bike is lost and they are looking at it at a plaza where stolen goods are sold frequently, Antonio and Bruno are becoming more and more physically and emotionally separated. Bruno keeps on looking up to his father, who no longer looks at him lovingly. In the vehicle where they ride with their friend, it is raining hard and Bruno and Antonio are double framed in the car window. In the first double frame, they looked so happy, but in the car window double frame, they look anxious, especially Antonio. They are becoming increasingly distant that Bruno even trips in the rain without Antonio realizing it. He is more concerned of finding his bike than taking care of his son. When they are chasing after the old man who talked with the young man who stole Antonio’s bike, and when the old man got away, Antonio is so irritable that he slaps Bruno when he says he would have stayed in the church for the free soup. Bruno in slight close up is shown hurt and surprised. He runs away from his father and they walk far apart. Also, another difference in their relationship is that in the beginning, Antonio gives his son omelet for lunch, but while looking for the old man, he forgets that Bruno is tired and hungry. He becomes obsessed in finding the bike that he neglects his son’s basic needs. He mellows down and gives Bruno a good lunch because he feels guilty for slapping him out of anger and desperation. They are still walking far away from each other though, because Antonio is desperate in finding his bike, their only economic salvation. At the end, their relationship is saved because Bruno saves his father from being taken to the police station. Antonio unsuccessfully steals a bike, and he is almost brought to the police, but the bike owner takes pity at the weeping Bruno, so he forgives Antonio. A while ago, they are distant, but father and son become reunited again. They are shown in medium shot with their hands intertwined. Antonio is crying, while Bruno holds on to his hand, crying too. The world is uncertain, but their family bonds remain certain and even stronger because of the challenges they surpassed together. 6. In what ways is The Bicycle Thief the complete antithesis of Hollywood studio productions?(Dont forget to include the ending). Address specific themes and technical characteristics. The film is a complete antithesis of Hollywood studio because it does not romanticize characters or focus on the middle class or the rich with artifice editing and the use of extra color, lighting, and props. Instead, the film shows Italy as it authentically is after the war, showing real setting and loose episodic structures where there is an almost documentary approach to the visual style. An example is the use of double framing in the scene where Antonio and his son are leaving for his first day of work. The door served as the frame, as they are saying goodbye to Maria. There is nothing over-sentimental with the shot that includes the beaten-down door, dirty walls and doors, and shabby attire of the father and son. They look sincerely happy, where the double framing shows some hope, an opening of a door of opportunity for the Ricci family. Another interpretation of the door is that the film is the door to the working-class life. Indeed, the working class is shown in authentic surroundings, not artificial set, and there is no special artifice in the cuts, editing, and lighting where natural daylight is used as much as possible in the indoor first-day-of-work scene. An example is the opening scene that shows the surroundings- bare houses and people who have shabby clothing and drawn faces in harsh daylight. The argument of the unemployed finding work is also realistic. The visual cut of them in the lower angle shows their low position in society. As it follows their complaints, a documentary feel is evident, with real frustrations expressed and tension contained. In broad daylight, their imperfections are clear, from their faces, hair, clothing, and behaviors. No additional colors are added and the people are seen in their actual conditions of poorness in finances and hope. The scene depicts the poverty of the land and the crumbling hope of the people. The film is also different from Hollywood studio films because it does not have a romanticized happy ending. A Hollywood film would have ended with Antonio finding his bike. Instead, Antonio ends without his bike and nearly being imprisoned because of trying to steal a bike. He and his son get swallowed in a crowd, suggesting that their poverty is part of everyone else’s. The sound is the same almost as it is the whole movie, underscoring that nothing has improved in their lives. But they must go on, as in real life. They are all troubled in different ways with no resolutions to their woes, an atypical ending compared to the happy sanitized endings of Hollywood movies. Read More