It has been called the masterpiece of Italian neorealism, and tells the story of father and husband Antonio, who is desperate for a job. In a stroke of good fortune he gets his hands on some work, but that is about where the good fortune ends for Antonio.
His bicycle (that his wife pawns all the family’s bed linen for), his only way of getting to and from jobs, gets stolen – and while the film’s title gives this event away somewhat, it is still a moment that really gets you as a spectator. Why didn’t he lock it up?!
ARTE E CULTURA
2018 marks seventy years since the release of Vittorio De Sica’s Ladri di biciclette – ranked sixth on the British Film Institute list of the 50 films you should see by the age of 14. Having recently been restored the Cineteca di Bologna, this year it was included as part of the ‘classics’ genre at Cannes.
The film documents Antonio’s desperate hunt for his stolen bike with his son, Bruno. As they search for a needle in a haystack, the film takes an honest look at the difficulties of life for the working class in Post-War Rome, there are no rose-tinted glasses here, as we get a real look at how tough life was for Italians in that period.
Ladri di biciclette
Vittorio De Sica (1948)
BY: LILY MCHUGH
IMAGE SOURCE WIKICOMMONS