one of my absolute favorites!

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Dreadfully Boring

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It is the exuberance of the dramatis personae of the movie that exhort me to say that despite having no element of piquancy, this is assuredly a masterpiece of profound ingenuity.

Director Vittorio Due Sica is an influential figure of Italian neorealism, going so far as to use everyday people as actors in this masterpiece of his. Not that you'd notice. The actors in this film are all remarkable, especially the two playing the leads. Lamberto Maggiorani as Antonio Ricci and Enzo Staiola as his son are both haunting in their roles, conveying in their roles far more emotion than many A-list Hollywood stars.The story goes that Antonio is a family man living in post-war Rome. Work is hard to get so you can guess his excitement when he lands a job as a poster of advertisements. Unluckily for him the job absolutely requires a bicycle and his gets stolen on his first day. Thus begins a frantic search throughout the streets and markets of Rome, helped by friends and his son.And as much as I have to praise the acting and emotion in this film, I do have to admit that the majority of the film is rather boring. The initial setup is interesting enough, but the search itself goes on way too long and consists mainly of the father and son aimlessly wandering around, searching for clues.So why is this such a classic? I mean, I guess it's an interesting look into post-war Italy, but there are many a film about that precise subject. And it is a tedious experience to sit through. But all that wandering, all that prolonged misery is necessary because of one thing. The ending. This film has one of the most poignant, most powerful endings I've ever seen. In it culminate the themes and hardships of the film in a way that's rarely seen.This is a hard film to recommend. It has power and depth, but it's also told in a way that's hard to sit through. Nevertheless, I do ask you to give it a chance.

Bicycle Thieves is directed by Vittorio De Sica. It's also the 2,000th film I've logged on this site, and I can't of a better film to mark this milestone. Bicycle Thieves is a wonderful piece of neo-realism. It's a film that has influenced countless film-makers from Ken Loach to Isao Takahata. Set during the aftermath of post war Italy, it tells the story of a poor working class father that just wants a job so he can support his family. When Antonio is offered a job posting advertising bills, he gladly accepts. The only problem is the job requires a bicycle, which he had previously pawned to keep his family afloat.Without his bicycle he still accepts the job, Antonio and his wife decide to sell all their bed linens towards re-buying his bicycle for his new job. On his first day of work, he gets distracted and a thief steals his bicycle. After getting no help from the Police, Antonio and his young son Bruno set about finding his bicycle before it's gone forever.Bicycle Thieves is a film that is still as relevant today as it was back in 1948. It shows the struggles of the working class post war. It's heartbreaking to watch as Antonio slowly starts to break down and become increasingly more desperate to find his bicycle, just so he can keep hold of his job. The film is a universal story about a working class man that simply wants a job to better his families lives, and despite all his best efforts his desperation turns him towards corruption.The film is held up wonderfully by the two main performances from the father Antonio(Lamberto Maggiorani) who gives a heart-wrenching performance as man close to breaking down, and his son Bruno(Enzo Staiola) who gives a stand-out performance. Enzo Staiola gives one of the best child performances I've seen. His reactions and facial expressions sell the struggles he and his father face, especially when his fathers desperation get him into trouble.Bicycle Thieves is also beautifully shot, again it's another film I've had the pleasure to watch courtesy of Arrow Video's wonderful Blu-ray restoration. Bicycle Thieves is a film that is worthy of all of it's acclaim, and is the definition of a true classic.

Although initially I had planned to write an elaborate review of 'Bicycle Thieves', but then I thought it really was a pointless act because millions of filmmakers, critics and fans have already established in numerous reviews, essays and homages why the film is masterful. So in the end, I decided to mention some magical scenes/moments in the film I noticed on this particular viewing that are either rich in humanism or which underline the general social conditions of war ravaged Italy :1. Subtle moment where Antonio helps Maria when she struggles to go down the slope carrying the two heavy buckets. 2. The smile on Maria and Antonio's face when the pawn shop attendant increases the exchange amount for their bed sheets from 7000 to 7500. 3. The shot where Antonio watches one of the pawn shop attendants carrying his family's bed sheets and the camera slowly reveals numerous,almost infinite bunch of bed sheets belonging to other families stacked on a towering wall of shelves, thus expanding the scope of the film in a social and political sense and pluralising the focus for a few seconds. 4. The moment where Bruno closes the window of the room before going out for work with his father in order to prevent the sunlight from coming in and falling on his baby brother/sister's face. 5. The moment where Antonio is being taught how to stick a poster on the wall and the camera suddenly shifts to two street boys who run after a rich man to ask for money. 6. The heartbreaking look on Maria's face when she becomes aware of the theft.7. The poetic moment where a bunch of chattering priests stand next to Antonio and Bruno to take shelter from the rain and subsequently we see the rain stall and the clouds disappear. As a matter of fact, 'The Bicycle Thieves' has a very interestingly ambiguous relationship with religion and mysticism. 8. The shot of Bruno standing alone at the top of a flight of stairs on a monument.9. The look of sheer joy on Bruno's face when Antonio proposes the thought of eating pizza. 10. The entire sequence in the restaurant when father and son temporarily abandon all pressing issues and decide to enjoy a meal together. 11. The shot where we see a woman with her child in the opposite apartment in the background slowly close the window as Antonio talks to the policeman in the foreground. 12. The look of sheer horror on Bruno's face as he sees his father being chased by a mob. 13. The close-up of Antonio's face at the very end of the film as he walks away with his son by his side. That haunting look on his face has the power to reduce even the hardest of men to tears. 14. The very last shot which was inspired by Chaplin's 'Modern Times' is pitch perfect. It again expands the scope of the film. We the audience say goodbye to our primary characters, as they walk away towards an uncertain future, again becoming a faceless part of the Italian working class. 15. Although this isn't a particular moment per se, but the music by Alessandro Cicognini deserves a special mention. The basic score of 'Bicycle Thieves' has an inherent despair and a sense of melancholy that is deeply moving and inescapable.It is a cliché, but it's a cliché worth repeating every time, 'Bicycle Thieves' is a stone cold masterpiece. Although it belongs to a specific time and was a result of specific social circumstances, one doesn't need to be an Italian who had lived during the post WWII era or even have any awareness of what Italian Neorealism means to feel its power. 'Bicycle Thieves' transcends temporal, cultural and social barriers due to the timelessness and universality of its humanity and its emotions. In a matter of 90 minutes, De Sica manages to perfectly showcase the kind of circumstances which might force a human being to compromise and abandon his/her subjective opinions and stances as well as objective conceptions of morality. There is no right or wrong, good or bad. Poverty and the basic need for survival can create a situation and a society where every person is only a few moments away from becoming a 'bicycle thief'.