Bicycle Thieves: An Italian Neorealism Film

It is often portrayed in films that Italians use their hands to “talk”. It is normally seen as the person looking directly at someone and the persons hand is palm up with their fingers all touching each other. Also during the trial, the judge targets Vinny for not having proper clothing on which Vinny takes it as a threat to him personally. Vinny does not want his image to be tainted from one person’s opinion even if the person is correct. When this happens, Vinny takes the comment and defends himself and mouths off to the judge. Also when Vinny first shows up, he is blasting music that could be considered unnecessary. This is portrayed as Italians being rude. The last example of a stereotype would be when Vinny says yutes and not youths. It would be considered that Italians take short cuts when saying things like the classic example of “forget about

In Bicycle Thieves, the female lead who plays Maria Ricci is also shown to be a working housewife, however her appearance is far more realistic than that of Joan Crawford. Maria Ricci is shown to be wearing tattered clothing, her hair is unkept, and she has what appears to be a completely naked face. Neorealism in Bicycle Thieves captures the raw essence of a woman living in poverty, who’s life revolves around her home, and the living conditions she has to endure on a daily

“Crocicchio” by Ardengo Soffici is a poem written in the era of the historic avant-garde in which Italy was facing a technological revolution; railways, cars and trams were all being transformed and as such the country saw a rise in the Italian Futurist movement. This movement praised all things modern by exploring new forms and technologies, treating them as a spectacle to be revered. The influence of these futuristic ideologies is clear in Crocicchio as Soffici paints a series of pictures of city life characterised by the chaos and activity which he experiences in his passing.

The gangster genre within films in America has accomplished numerous positive criticisms and constant willing audiences due to containing outstanding spectacles and mind-blowing action. The Godfather, being second on the IMDb Top 250 Movies, has set a new popular concept to life within the Mafia from their point of view. Doing so, creating a positive association. Yet within Italy, the same topic contains a complete different view. Movies such as I Cento Passi demonstrate unenthusiastic view by those whom are outside yet negatively affected by those members. Unlike American films, the gangsters are not as often viewed at the protagonist and are the main causes for the problematic events. But how different is Italian Mafia and American

Film Noir was extremely trendy during the 1940’s. People were captivated by the way it expresses a mood of disillusionment and indistinctness between good and evil. Film Noir have key elements; crime, mystery, an anti-hero, femme fatale, and chiaroscuro lighting and camera angles. The Maltese Falcon is an example of film noir because of the usage of camera angles, lighting and ominous settings, as well as sinister characters as Samuel Spade, the anti-hero on a quest for meaning, who encounters the death of his partner but does not show any signs of remorse but instead for his greed for riches.

Film and realism are connected to one another; it gives the audience an opportunity to interpret the film in their own perspective, in relation to the real world. As someone with a firm opposition to editing and montage, Bazin stated that the mise en scène truly represents “true continuity” in film, reproducing the real world more realistically. (Cardullo, 7) There are two editing systems: Classical Hollywood Cinema and Neorealist Cinema. From their similarities and differences, it can be said that Neorealist Cinema portrays the real world more realistically and effectively than CHC… In order to produce Bazin’s “true continuity” and reproduce situations more realistically, the filmmaker must choose an effective editing system, refrain from interrupting the flow of images, and use minimal editing, proven through the two films Bicycle Thieves (Neorealist Cinema) and Stagecoach (CHC).

The director uses multiple camera shots to highlight the love during troublesome times and the emotions that are present. A wide shot is used when the audience watches Guido marching in front of the soldier shortly before his death. Guido does this as he is aware that his son is watching and still wants the experience of the camp to be a fun game and does not want Giosue to be afraid of what is happening. Close up shots are commonly used throughout the film to give more detail into the emotions that the characters are feeling. A

The critically acclaimed film, Goodfellas, is a gangster crime drama that features an incredible amount of talent. Household names such as: Robert De Niro (Jimmy Conway), Joe Pesci (Tommy DeVito), Paul Sorvino (Paul Cicero), and promising stars like Ray Liotta (Henry Hill) and Lorraine Bracco (Karen Hill), attracted numerous Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. That type of cast power, linked with the signature talent of Martin Scorsese as a director, made for cinematic gold. Unquestionably, the actors and actresses did an excellent job augmenting the verisimilitude of this film and compelling audiences to empathize with their characters. But the cinematography in this film plays just as large a role in having audiences feel what the characters are feeling at a specific moment. Through the use of freeze frames, we learn of significant moments that shape Henry into the man that he is. By means of first-person narration we are able to know exactly what is going through a particular character’s mind. Finally, wonderful editing made great use of point of view and multiple jump cuts, which added to the sensation that we are undergoing the same experiences as the characters on screen. I will go into further detail and specify scenes that convey these elements as the essay progresses. Altogether, Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas effectively depicts paramount scenes and allows the audience to empathize with the characters by virtue of stylistic editing and cinematography.

Italian Neorealism was a movement of art, which strived to illustrate the normal lives of the ordinary, working class people in post war Rome, usually with the use of non-professional actors. As one of the best Italian Neorealist film, Bicycle Thieves showed an absolute depiction of the war’s impact on daily life and exposed a world in which sufferings, unkindness and corruption jeopardized the rationality of human beings and action of men (Schoonover). By utilizing a depressing and gloomy cinematography, De Sica implies the somber lives of the poor and their crisis in losing their self-identity and moral conscience as a result of parochial society that make a fetish of personal belongings as a mode of social acceptance. By examining the cinematography, ‘mise-en-scene’ and events in the film, the daily struggles of the working class in post war Rome can be seen through the crisis of masculinity, class struggle, ethical dilemma and a profoundly patriarchal society.

There were a few close ups during the film, that appeared to only focus on the actors or actresses when they were to express some type of action or expression. One close up would have to be when Cesare woke up from his 23-year sleep which was also to appear to be a long shot. Combining the close up with the long shots during the film, created emotions that could be established with the audience. A good example of these two combined would have to be the ending of the film where the camera stays on Caligari’s face only for a

We see alleyways, overflowing soup kitchen, and brothel neighborhood, and everywhere hordes unemployed men whose frustration gives the film an urgent energy. Amidst this contextual background, Bicycle Thieves therefore, makes a rare, true entry in the Neorealism form in which only a handful of films qualify, even though, it does not portray or refence the times of its making within the film, it rather shows class division, and ineffective employment system.

‘There are…two kinds of film makers: one invents an imaginary reality; the other confronts an existing reality and attempts to understand it, criticise it…and finally, translate it into film’

Set in the depression times of post-World War II Italy, Graziadei and De Sica’s (1948) The Bicycle Thief narrates the story of Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani), who, after finding a job as a bill poster, loses his bicycle to a young thief. He tries to look for it with his son Bruno (Enzo Staiola); however, despite seeing the thief, he fails to recover his bicycle. Desperate, he tries to steal a bike himself but is easily thwarted by a group of bystanders. They plan to bring him to the police station until the owner notices the weeping Bruno and, in an act of compassion, ask others to release the thief. In this paper, I argue that The Bicycle Thief

This makes Guido’s father look smaller in the background. This is a very good example of mise-en-scene because it’s defined as the articulation of cinematic space. In this film Fellini took very good advantage of the frame. His way of placing characters is quite fascinating he almost places them like if they’d been on a stage while filmmaking.

The reign of fascism had ended, meaning that the entire Italian government was in shambles. Italians abandoned Mussolini because he did not keep his promises, therefore they were in need of a new leader that would keep promises and help make Italy a powerhouse. There was still some neo-fascism present, but not in any amount that the original regime had been. In the movie The Bicycle Thief, it portrays the idea of a clear division in social classes, one could say due to the economy.