In typical neorealism fashion, The Bicycle Thief uses subjective reality to give the viewer access to the psychological forces that makes the main character, Antonio Ricci, behave the way he does. After spending the day searching for his bicycle and realizing he may never retrieve it, he decides to do the unthinkable, steal a bicycle. By this point in the film, the viewer understands the significance of the bike. His family is facing financial hardship and he is likely to lose the job he recently obtained unless he has a bicycle.
The film also uses objective realism and ambiguity. Whereas Hollywood films had a tendency to resolve matters by the end of a picture, neorealism films use an open-ended approach. The Bicycle Thief simply ends with Antonio walking hand-in-hand into a crowd with his son, Bruno. The viewer does not know whether or not he found his bicycle or lost his job. Instead, the spectator is left to interpret the events that occurred and devise what happens to Antonio and his family.
Another element of neorealism films is the setting in which it is set. The Bicycle Thief is shot on location and the bulk of it takes place in the streets of Rome, not in a studio setting. It also takes a contemporary approach, revealing the conditions of Italy after the war. It sheds light on the dynamics between the everyday person and authoritative institutions. When reporting the theft of his bicycle to the police, the officer is callous to his situation. Furthermore, the film exposes the issue of unemployment. In the beginning of the movie, an assembly of men gathers to learn whether or not they will be awarded a job. Finally, the manner in which the story is told has neorealism attributes. It captures a day in the life of an every day person with the simple goal of finding his bike.
In the film, The Bicycle Thief we begin to see directors take their films back to modernism. In this context according to the text book, “film makers sought to be truer to life” and this is true for The Bicycle Thief. As opposed to following the classical Hollywood cinema plot that Hollywood had provided its audience members, The Bicycle Thief has no happy ending. After pawning their bedroom sheets to have enough money to pick the bicycle up from the shop, our main character Antonio witnesses on his first day out on the job, a young gentleman steal his bike. From there the film begins to develop. We do see certain characteristics from classic Hollywood, but in that retrospect, there was no happy ending after enduring countless hours and efforts recover his bicycle and find the thief.
With this being said, the film also provided audience members with the concept of Italian Neorealists, which according to our text, consists of “filming in the streets and emphasizing current social problems.” In the opening minutes of the film we witness this character of Italian Neorealism. Antonio, and multiple men living in his city are all awaiting to see if there are jobs available, while doing this, the film not only provides its audience with a sense of realism, but it also makes it aware that Italy after war was poverty stricken. It was hard to come by jobs, and people did what was necessary to make a living. This is clear when Maria and Antonio pawn their bed sheets, or when Antonio practically searches the entire city in hopes of finding his bicycle in order to continue working to provide for his family. Also, almost the entire movie takes place in the street. We see this in Antonio’s line of work, his search for his bicycle, and overall very little setting takes place in buildings.
I thought The Bicycle Thief did an excellent job in stepping away from what audiences members were used to witnessing. I myself was excepting that classic happy ending. After searching for his bicycle, I was sure that Antonio was going to find it, or that by some other means he was going to receive a bicycle. This was not the case. The film ends with Antonio attempting to steal a bicycle outside a neighborhood building. This scene also gave audience members a sense of reality, in that in times of economic struggles life was not always picture perfect. I thought the film did a great job in showing reality to its audience members and portraying a new genre of Italian Neorelism, and a turn back to modernism.
“The Bicycle Thief” is a movie from the modern neorealism era in Italy. One of the features of this era is the way the directors make the movies more about real life and in real life you don’t always have a happy ending. This feature is very evident in “The Bicycle Thief” as the main character, Antonio Ricci, lives in the poor country side of Italy and he and his family are facing financial turmoil. Of course after the World War the whole country was poor and in ruins at that time and a lot of scenes were shot in the streets which also shows the social and economic problems of the time period. There is also a lot of unemployment during that period and Antonio is one of the few lucky people in his neighborhood to get a job for which he needed a bicycle. He and his wife sold their bed sheets in order to buy a bicycle which gets stolen on the very first day of his job. The entire movie is pretty much spent on Antonio searching for his bicycle with his son Bruno. Their attempt is not successful and Antonio resorts to the absurd idea of himself stealing a bicycle due to the pressure put on him to have one in order to work and provide for his family. The struggles of that time drove a lot of people to do such acts and committing crimes which plays into neorealism.
I definitely agree with Rositsa's comment. "The Bycicle Thief" has many traits of the Italian Neo-Realism. There are parts of the movie that just doens't have a "Hollywood" explanation, but they are there because the movie represent life, and random things happens in life sometimes. The movie portrays the harsh reality that Europe,Italy in this case, was facing after the world war II. Neo Realism movies dont try to hide the reality with comedys and romances. Instead, these kind of movies attempts to bring the reality into the screens. Neo-Realist directors believed that it is not necessary to make something up. According to them, the pure and simple reality was enough to make a good movie. In addition, the end of the movie let the story unresolved. The viewers are free to take their own conclusions. However, there is a feeling that the life goes on, and that the characters will keep living their lives regardless of the problems. In my opinion, this sounded as a reflection of that moment in Italy. The people have to move on and kepp living their lives regerdless of all destruction that the war had brought.
In response to Creystal Castell's comment: I agree that this film portrays effectively the idea of Italian neorealism and embodies it perfectly. It represents circumstances that are very realistic for the time period, while stepping away from the CHC techniques, such as the common happy ending. The ending of the film is ambiguous, and based on the family's circumstances, the ending appears more grim than anything else. The film also focuses on the social issues in Italy at the time, the poverty and desperation for jobs during the time. This is shown effectively in that it takes place on the streets of Italy rather than a set, making the circumstances of Ricci and the other characters look more realistic.
Xueyun The Bicycle Thief is a typical neorealism film. In the film we can see that the actors and actresses are non-actors, and the movie was shot at local. I agree with Rositsa said, during that period, lots of people are unemployed. We might thing that Antonio’s reaction by stolen a bicycle is absurd now a day. However, when people at that position, they willing to do anything to keep their family and themselves away from hunger. Because those neorealism film want to show what is happen at that time and feel the reality of it, most of the film shot at local and used non-actors.
In response to Lucas, I think you are absolutely right in the end the people will go on living their life because it goes on. And this film strongly represents the time period Italy was in and the everyday life of it's people. And sometimes its not necessary to make things up to have a good movie like Lucas said I believe a lot of times people will watch a movie that closely relates to them so maybe they can feel some support like they are not the only ones struggling because in that time in Italy everybody was.
In typical neorealism fashion, The Bicycle Thief uses subjective reality to give the viewer access to the psychological forces that makes the main character, Antonio Ricci, behave the way he does. After spending the day searching for his bicycle and realizing he may never retrieve it, he decides to do the unthinkable, steal a bicycle. By this point in the film, the viewer understands the significance of the bike. His family is facing financial hardship and he is likely to lose the job he recently obtained unless he has a bicycle.
ReplyDeleteThe film also uses objective realism and ambiguity. Whereas Hollywood films had a tendency to resolve matters by the end of a picture, neorealism films use an open-ended approach. The Bicycle Thief simply ends with Antonio walking hand-in-hand into a crowd with his son, Bruno. The viewer does not know whether or not he found his bicycle or lost his job. Instead, the spectator is left to interpret the events that occurred and devise what happens to Antonio and his family.
Another element of neorealism films is the setting in which it is set. The Bicycle Thief is shot on location and the bulk of it takes place in the streets of Rome, not in a studio setting. It also takes a contemporary approach, revealing the conditions of Italy after the war. It sheds light on the dynamics between the everyday person and authoritative institutions. When reporting the theft of his bicycle to the police, the officer is callous to his situation. Furthermore, the film exposes the issue of unemployment. In the beginning of the movie, an assembly of men gathers to learn whether or not they will be awarded a job. Finally, the manner in which the story is told has neorealism attributes. It captures a day in the life of an every day person with the simple goal of finding his bike.
In the film, The Bicycle Thief we begin to see directors take their films back to modernism. In this context according to the text book, “film makers sought to be truer to life” and this is true for The Bicycle Thief. As opposed to following the classical Hollywood cinema plot that Hollywood had provided its audience members, The Bicycle Thief has no happy ending. After pawning their bedroom sheets to have enough money to pick the bicycle up from the shop, our main character Antonio witnesses on his first day out on the job, a young gentleman steal his bike. From there the film begins to develop. We do see certain characteristics from classic Hollywood, but in that retrospect, there was no happy ending after enduring countless hours and efforts recover his bicycle and find the thief.
ReplyDeleteWith this being said, the film also provided audience members with the concept of Italian Neorealists, which according to our text, consists of “filming in the streets and emphasizing current social problems.” In the opening minutes of the film we witness this character of Italian Neorealism. Antonio, and multiple men living in his city are all awaiting to see if there are jobs available, while doing this, the film not only provides its audience with a sense of realism, but it also makes it aware that Italy after war was poverty stricken. It was hard to come by jobs, and people did what was necessary to make a living. This is clear when Maria and Antonio pawn their bed sheets, or when Antonio practically searches the entire city in hopes of finding his bicycle in order to continue working to provide for his family. Also, almost the entire movie takes place in the street. We see this in Antonio’s line of work, his search for his bicycle, and overall very little setting takes place in buildings.
I thought The Bicycle Thief did an excellent job in stepping away from what audiences members were used to witnessing. I myself was excepting that classic happy ending. After searching for his bicycle, I was sure that Antonio was going to find it, or that by some other means he was going to receive a bicycle. This was not the case. The film ends with Antonio attempting to steal a bicycle outside a neighborhood building. This scene also gave audience members a sense of reality, in that in times of economic struggles life was not always picture perfect. I thought the film did a great job in showing reality to its audience members and portraying a new genre of Italian Neorelism, and a turn back to modernism.
“The Bicycle Thief” is a movie from the modern neorealism era in Italy. One of the features of this era is the way the directors make the movies more about real life and in real life you don’t always have a happy ending. This feature is very evident in “The Bicycle Thief” as the main character, Antonio Ricci, lives in the poor country side of Italy and he and his family are facing financial turmoil. Of course after the World War the whole country was poor and in ruins at that time and a lot of scenes were shot in the streets which also shows the social and economic problems of the time period.
ReplyDeleteThere is also a lot of unemployment during that period and Antonio is one of the few lucky people in his neighborhood to get a job for which he needed a bicycle. He and his wife sold their bed sheets in order to buy a bicycle which gets stolen on the very first day of his job. The entire movie is pretty much spent on Antonio searching for his bicycle with his son Bruno. Their attempt is not successful and Antonio resorts to the absurd idea of himself stealing a bicycle due to the pressure put on him to have one in order to work and provide for his family. The struggles of that time drove a lot of people to do such acts and committing crimes which plays into neorealism.
Response to Rositsa:
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Rositsa's comment. "The Bycicle Thief" has many traits of the Italian Neo-Realism. There are parts of the movie that just doens't have a "Hollywood" explanation, but they are there because the movie represent life, and random things happens in life sometimes. The movie portrays the harsh reality that Europe,Italy in this case, was facing after the world war II. Neo Realism movies dont try to hide the reality with comedys and romances. Instead, these kind of movies attempts to bring the reality into the screens. Neo-Realist directors believed that it is not necessary to make something up. According to them, the pure and simple reality was enough to make a good movie.
In addition, the end of the movie let the story unresolved. The viewers are free to take their own conclusions. However, there is a feeling that the life goes on, and that the characters will keep living their lives regardless of the problems. In my opinion, this sounded as a reflection of that moment in Italy. The people have to move on and kepp living their lives regerdless of all destruction that the war had brought.
Lucas Santa Ana
In response to Creystal Castell's comment:
ReplyDeleteI agree that this film portrays effectively the idea of Italian neorealism and embodies it perfectly. It represents circumstances that are very realistic for the time period, while stepping away from the CHC techniques, such as the common happy ending. The ending of the film is ambiguous, and based on the family's circumstances, the ending appears more grim than anything else. The film also focuses on the social issues in Italy at the time, the poverty and desperation for jobs during the time. This is shown effectively in that it takes place on the streets of Italy rather than a set, making the circumstances of Ricci and the other characters look more realistic.
Xueyun
ReplyDeleteThe Bicycle Thief is a typical neorealism film. In the film we can see that the actors and actresses are non-actors, and the movie was shot at local. I agree with Rositsa said, during that period, lots of people are unemployed. We might thing that Antonio’s reaction by stolen a bicycle is absurd now a day. However, when people at that position, they willing to do anything to keep their family and themselves away from hunger. Because those neorealism film want to show what is happen at that time and feel the reality of it, most of the film shot at local and used non-actors.
In response to Lucas, I think you are absolutely right in the end the people will go on living their life because it goes on. And this film strongly represents the time period Italy was in and the everyday life of it's people. And sometimes its not necessary to make things up to have a good movie like Lucas said I believe a lot of times people will watch a movie that closely relates to them so maybe they can feel some support like they are not the only ones struggling because in that time in Italy everybody was.
ReplyDelete