The Bicycle Thief is a story of struggle that knows no borders to race, gender, time, or space. I can totally see why this film was part of the Italian Neo-Realism movement, it showed how life was for people then without sugar-coating it. There were extremely long takes on the confrontations that the main character had gotten himself into, in particular when he accused the thief of stealing his bicycle and the community came to the aid of the thief. Judging by the size of the buildings and the lighting the crew was most certainly on location in the streets of Italy. Although most the actors were non-professional, they acted so well in fact that I feel they were better than most are today. They did however have one thing on their side, this kind of behavior and life was normal for the area and time frame it was filmed in. Around 99% of the scenes were filmed in very rural working class areas. The other 1% was when they went into the bar to get "tore up" and forget everything. Unfortunately there wasn't a real resolution at the end of the movie, but this is the truth of the matter. I feel the director was trying to make a statement that there are no real resolutions in life, only compromises.
Jake H.
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You have all the elements of a solid interpretive claim. You include both the concept as well as the specific filmic elements that support your ideas. I'm glad you brought up that drinking scene, which is so funny and worth looking at. Kids do drink wine sometimes in Italy as you may know. ha ha.
ReplyDeleteI also think the director was trying to show at the end that desperation leads to bad choices and survival in that place and time was desolate and without resolution. Thanks for posting!