Humans have the tendency to romanticize many aspects of our society, be it wars, relationships, or histories. However with this romanticism, comes ignorance, of most negative aspects of truth and reality. This nostalgic ignorance and apathy towards those negatively affected by generally romanticized events is the central theme of Vittorio de Sica’s neorealist work The Bicycle Thieves. This argument is created by accurate incidental music, stark contrast in shots, and fluid, human camera tracking throughout the film.
Every background and still of The Bicycle Thieves tells its own story, via the mise-en scen technique. One of the first scenes is the pawn store scene, where Maria turns their bedsheets in order to redeem Antonio’s bike, a necessity
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The first bicycle theft, comes early in the film as Antonio’s bike is stolen as he works. This scene expresses the contrasts between the economic classes as the poor, disenfranchised man plasters an advertisement, which is inherently capitalist and therefore directly marketed towards the rich fraction of society, in relative disregard to the poor lower class. The scene continues to a similarly poor kid stealing Antonio’s bike. As Antonio chases,no one of the richer population cares enough to help as he loses the boy and the bike. This scene is both paralleled and contrasted with the final scene of the film. Before the scene even begins, the shot shows a stadium, lingering upon the topping statues of the structure of gladiators. These couple seconds reveal a great amount of theme, as the gladiators were one of the first examples in italian culture of a severe disenfranchisement of poorer classes, as they were forced to fight for freedom. This stages the argument for the coming scene. In line with the beginning scene, Antonio succumbs to the theft of a bike, but this time is pursued and caught by a crowd. The contrast between the two scenes is that the victim of the theft is wealthy. Due to his wealth, he is immediately helped by a large crowd whom easily catch Antonio. These scenes are indicative of the theme of apathy towards the poor, lower …show more content…
This realism is based in both the very human nature of the acting, as expressed in Charles Burnett’s essay Ode to the Common Man, as well as in the fluid camera movements of the film. This humanist camera movement is best exemplified by the scene where Antonio believes Bruno to have jumped into the river, after Antonio slapped him. The camera follows Antonio, creating an effect of truly being there, further enhancing the realism, and therefore the thematic material as the two were linked. The human nature is further revealed within the acting of the film, an observation made in Burnett’s essay. “Her [Maria] look of disappointment is powerfully affecting. I [Burnett] often wonder if that was de Scia or her.” (Burnett). This argument is a direct proof at the argument, as the disappointment expressed at the denial by the richer store operator, directly paralleling the apathy, if distaste of the rich towards the society’s poor. This connection however, would be completely lost if not for the inherently human and personal performances by the
This world is amazing because everyone is going to a hell-like war every day to make a living. That means we need to be fed, warm, and happy to live. Once we are forced to live in extreme circumstances with limited necessities, then the real colors that we unknowingly keep hidden inside of us are revealed in a blink of an eye, and it can be hazardous. For this essay, I am going to write a theme on survival from David Benioff’s novel, City of Thieves, because the story illustrates a ruthless image of drastic measures that must be taken to survive the brutality of the war. First of all, I am going to write a summary of City of Thieves to get a better understanding of what is happening in the novel. Second, I will write the
To begin, in The Rape of the Lock, Alexander Pope uses satire to invoke a capricious, melancholy mood to illustrate the absurdity of fighting over the cutting of one's hair. Hidden inside this poem is a crafty criticism of the society that helps create the crisis over the stolen lock. A Society in which appearances ere more important to a person’s sense of identity, and treats the insignificant with utmost importance.
In the film The Bicycle Thief the audience is able to witness all the elements of neorealism. The use of non professional actors, to low class working characters, the flattening of scenes, and the location where it was shot at; are just a few of the essential elements that can be found in this film along with copious neorealist films. It is clear that the director used a variety of shots, angles, and set-ups in order to create certain emotions at very specific scenes in the film. From the start we are able to obtain a feel about the film’s tone as a result of the lack of color. The use of black and white truly helped the audience experience what Italy was like during the post World War 2. As a result of the depressing post war we are able to detect how the act of trying to improve oneself can sometimes lead to desperation.
Adam Szymkowics’ Pretty Theft is about the unexpected troubles and dangers that follow the life of the, young female, protagonist Allegra. After observing the play, Allegra encounters four-male figures in her life: Allegra’s father, Bobby, Joe and Marco. These men have not only taken advantage of her innocence but, affected her life significantly throughout the play.
Most time people don’t think about what crimes they are committing like motor vehicle theft, larceny and theft and robbery. Each of the crimes is serious, but some people don’t understand the consequence of what they could be up against. Automobile theft is a felony which you could face up to one or more years in prison. Robbery is a crime that happens every day and usually deals with someone intentionally taking something from a store or a person.
For the many Arizona State University student and staff members who own a bicycle, there is no greater concern than having it stolen from them. Thousands of Sun Devils on the Tempe, Arizona campus possess a bike for the sole purpose of conveniently going to and from classes, not to mention their jobs as well. Bikes are expensive, and when one is stolen from a student it not only breaks their bank, it can also cause them to miss a class or be late to work. Combatting this crime has been historically difficult for ASU’s police department, who owns the problem of bike theft on the Tempe, Downtown Phoenix, West, and Polytechnic campuses. In the history of Arizona State
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.
I noticed when the man and the boy are robbed by the thief the two contrasts are shown. The thief robs them of all their belongings leaving them with nothing. This is a morally wrong act in my opinion. Stealing someone's belongings and leaving them to die is unjustifiable. This reveals humanity's desire to go against one another when times are at the worst. On the other hand when the man and the boy catch the thief they
i think that when the actors were stealing the bike the people walking by were being sexist, stero typing, and racist. When the white guy actor was trying to steal the bike nobody stopped him. They asked if it was his and he said no, but they still didn't stop him. When the black guy actor was trying to steal the bike somebody stopped him in the first minute. When the first person yelled at him to stop a lot of other people rushed over. When the young white girl actor was stealing the bike nobody stopped her in fact mostly all of them (guys) helped her steal the bike. I think this was sexist because when the girl was stealing the bike people helped her steal it, but when the white, or black guy were stealing it they both got stopped and
While Rossellini’s Rome Open City portrays the struggle for freedom, De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves tries to find the human face. He discovered it not in the exceptional sorrow of war but in the misery of daily life where war is just one aspect of the human lot. Bicycle Thieves takes place at a specific time under a unique series of social conditions that shape both its narrative and its embrace of the Neorealist style.
	Another fine example of neorealism is The Bicycle Thief (1948), written by Cesare Zavattini and directed by Vittorio De Sica. The narrative of this film unfolds in post-W.W.II times. The film is a portrait of the post-war Italian disadvantaged class (the majority) in their search for self-respect. It is a time of struggle for the Italian people, amplified by a shortage of employment and lack of social services. In the first scenes of the film, these conditions are evident as Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorami) meets his spouse Maria (Lianalla Carell) on his way back home. We see the "men" arguing at the employment "office" as the "women" argue about the shortage of water. Although the director's
a. Imagine asking 100 strangers to describe a criminal. Predict whether those descriptions would be likely to focus on street criminals, or the variety of topics covered in this video.
Filmic landscapes in The Bicycle Thief reveal the reel and the real, the widespread social conditions and their social meanings for the working-class in desperate conditions. De Sica uses mise-en-scene to reveal poverty and mobility to underline the lack of movement of the poor. In the end, they steal from each other, an ironic misdeed, when the rich steals from them the most, specifically by denying them better economic opportunities. The ending is pessimistic but realistic: the poor have no one else but themselves, as they huddle to an uncertain
Vittorio De Sica started making films in the late 1940s, with The Bicycle Thief being one of his first films. De Sica was able to capture the struggles of a particular life, but also made it general enough for a multitude of people to be able to relate to the problems the characters face. De Sica is an example of a Neorealist filmmaker with his usage of nonprofessional actors as most of his character, as he felt they provided a certain authenticity to the films. He filmed on location, using natural light as their only source, in an attempt to make the film seem as legitimate as possible. All of his films covered topics of hardship of those living in poverty during the postwar Italy. One of his films that strays from his typical Neorealism style
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.