Bicycle Thieves Analysis

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

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

Italian Fascism is an authoritarian and nationalistic system of government and social organization, it was the political result of the relationship between socialist and nationalist rhetoric. It is a form of governance which employs intolerant views and practices, advocating traditionalism, interventionism and sameness rather than individualism. In order to promote their totalitarian ideals during the 1930s to 1945 fascist politicians such as Benito Mussolini, who had previously been a socialist newspaper editor, employed propaganda that included virtually all modes of media: the press, posters and film. The widespread dissemination of totalitarian ideals infiltrated into the school system where young Italians born from 1910 to 1935 were taught to “obey and fight.” The purpose of this paper is to analyse the diffusion of the Italian Identity through fascist propaganda from 1922-1943 and the identity that was diffused as a result of the exploitation of Mussolini’s various propaganda mediums. Did fascist propaganda contribute to the diffusion of an Italian identity? If so, what identity was diffused?

Though most of us feel as if we are treated equal.. We arent. People discriminate others based on their race, sex, and appearance. In “What Would You Do, Bike Thief” they had two male actors of different color, and an attractive women. When the white man tried “stealing” the bike, nobody seems to care. Though, when a colored man tried “stealing” the bike people had gotten on to him within seconds. “Justice is colorblind.” is a quote from the segment that I don't necessarily agree with. Society is very hard on those whom are different.. They didn't care that the white guy was stealing the bike, but when the colored guy was stealing it, those around acted as if it was the end of the world. Which does not make sense to me. Later, the

In “Chapter Five: Chasing My Stolen Bicycle” by Justin Jouvenal law enforcement and prosecutors treat petty crime such as a stolen bike as if it’s nothing. They don’t care too much about it. Law enforcement agencies tend to prioritize on violent crimes since they are more harmful and make people more fearful. For instance, in “Chapter Seven: Duke Lacrosse Players Relieved Case has ‘Closure’” by The Associated Press, law enforcement, and prosecutors responded instantly to the serious allegations. This is because this case involved allegations of rape, kidnapping, and sexual assaults. On top of that, the district attorney had corrupt actions. This is a serious crime as opposed to a stolen bike that causes no physical harm to a person. This

Two weeks after arriving in Florence, while walking home from dinner across the river, stumbled upon Piazza della Signoria, for the first time. With the sound of a street performer’s violin in the crisp night air, I sat on the edge of the open-air gallery of statues. I still do not know why the piazza affected me the way it did, but with tears in my eyes, I knew I had found a place in Florence where I could be bitter sweetly happy.

Nonprofessional actors playing the lead roles and shot on real location, the story takes place in Rome during the post war era when Italy was reconstructing itself and rapidly becoming modernized. It is told from the point of view an old retired bureaucrat and shows his struggle to survive along with his nonhuman

On May 9, 1936, a crowd of four hundred thousand had gathered around the Palazzo Venezia in Rome to hear the speech of their powerful and adored leader, Benito Mussolini. The Italian dictator was loved by the majority of the population and even referred to, by some of his own generals, as a god. Regardless of what outside opinions might have been towards Mussolini the country still respected him. The question then becomes, what were the circumstances in Italy that attributed to the dictator’s rise to power? Between the years of 1909 and 1945 Italy experienced a radical change in its politics and denizens alike. The world was entering the Great War, a war unlike any other, and the Bolshevik Revolution had sparked a flame across Europe.

The movie The Bicycle Thief is an Italian neorealism movement. It shows the struggle of everyday life, of poverty and unemployment in Italy after World Ware 11. The movie was shot on location and was low budgeted. The actors in the movie was untrained and had no experience. The main Character Antonio Ricci was a factory worker prior to the movie. You can tell by the costumes the actors wore reflects the financial hardships of the lower class of Rome. The films tells the tragic story of a man name Antonio Ricci going through difficult obstacles to provide for his family. When he finally gets a job, he has to sell his bed sheets to afford a bicycle for his new job. When things were finally looking good, a thief steals his bicycle shortly after.

While Riall states that culture is what truly marked this budding Italian identity, she also goes on to write that culturally, the peninsula was becoming more “Italianised” even before the unification of Italy. Likewise, Riall demonstrates how the arts, particularly theatre, in more ways than one, contributed to a “growing patriotic spirit”. Themes recurrent in operatic works of the time such as oppression and struggle, coupled with the production of theatres alike in construction gave way to a sense of unity, a shared culture and community. Art and literature produced and stressed commonality in the formation of an Italian identity.

Bicycle Thieves (1948), tells the story of a poor man and his family, who have struggled while he was unemployed. It begins with him being offered a job of hanging posters that requires the employee to ride a bike, one not provided by the employer. While Antonio has a bike, we find out that he was forced to pawn it in order to feed his family. Getting it back also requires the pawning of items, specifically their sheets, but the act was worth it as he gets the job. However, it is on Antonio's very first day that things turn upside down for the family.

In this paper I will be talking about the film The Bicycle Thief’s by director Vittorio DeSica. In this film he makes it clear that there are problems with the main character that extends to the greater population of post-War Rome. I will be covering how director Desica makes the film's narrative and use of mise-en scene. At this time in the film and in real life everyone is struggling to find a job and money.

Italian Neorealism was at its peak after the downfall of the Mussolini’s regime. However, under the fascist leader, there was an element of artistic pluralism permitted , particularly because Mussolini understood the pivotal role of cinema within society, especially if it could influence societal thoughts. Subsequently, Mussolini himself founded important film institutions such as the Venice Film Festival, Cinecitta and the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia – a highly respected film school. Vittorio Mussolini also played a role in Italian cinema, and he imposed that politics should not be a subject within the films. This resulted in what critics call a series of ‘telefoni bianchi’. The characteristics which make up this type of ‘white

The Italian Autonmia movement during the mid 1970s sought ways to eliminate the strong capitalist structure of the Italian government, to provide and create equal opportunity in the work force, etc. The protagonist first hand account in Balestrini’s , The Unseen, the story retells achronologically of the movement’s actions and progression jumping back and forth from local actions to the protagonist’s imprisonment. Through the narrator’s choice in the achronological telling of the Italian Autonomia movement, the blurring of events between the occupation of the Catione by the movement and the subsequent prison uprising during his imprisonment emphasizes the fundamental repression of the movement. Additionally, the narrator demonstrates by blurring

In Italy, directors focused on the moral and economic conditions that came with the postwar generation quickly after the war and addressed the war instead of not acknowledging as German cinema did for so long. Unlike Alice in the Cities and The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, films such as Bicycle Thieves depicted dislocation during the postwar period in the Neorealist style, made in 1948, this film differs greatly from the two former films discussed. In Bicycle Thieves, Vittorio De Sica delivers a political message regarding the difficulty of survival in postwar Italy, but also conveys a sense of psychological dislocation through the character development of Antonio Ricci. In many ways, Italy’s economy is much to blame for Ricci’s two-year unemployment in which the film begins, however, Ricci has as many internal struggles as he does externally. Neorealism lies heavily on the depiction of real life problems depicting common people and often used people from the street as actors, in this film the man who played Ricci, Lamberto Maggiorani, actually was a factory worker, which helps solidify the film’s authenticity. Towards the end of Bicycle Thieves, Ricci’s efforts to retrieve his stolen bicycle fail when the people that live near the boy who stole it side with the epileptic boy as he has a