The Bicycle Thief = : Ladri di Biciclette

Locations
Call Number: DVD FLC-ITA Bicycle
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 1st Floor 1-week checkout	DVD FLC-ITA Bicycle	1-week checkout	On Shelf

Originally produced as a motion picture in 1949.
A foreign film (Italy)
Includes director's biography & filmography, awards, theatrical trailer in English.
Cast: Lamberto Maggiorani, Lianella Carell, Enzo Staiola, Elena Antieri, Gino Saltamerenda, Giulio Chiari, Vittorio Antonucci.
Story of an unemployed man and his son in war devastated Rome. The father finds a job pasting up posters, work requiring a bicycle to get around. The bicycle is stolen; panic stricken at being unable to recover his bicycle and at the prospect of losing his job, the father is compelled to steal a bicycle, only to be caught and humiliated in front of his son.
DVD format ; Full screen.
Contents: Ladri di biciclette.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

The saddest story ever told. submitted by andrewlightfoot on April 15, 2007, 4:42pm The Bicycle Thief, or to give it its correct title, Bicycle Thieves, is a truly inspired work. Never before have direction, performances, editing, and cinematography combined to such outstanding results. Cesare Zavattini’s adaptation of Bartolini’s novel is the straightforward story of a poverty-stricken man trying to do right by his family, and in turn, regain some dignity.

Antonio is the head of family living in post-war Rome. In order to perform his new job he must own a bicycle, a purchase he funds by pawning his wedding linen. On his first day the bicycle is stolen and he and his son Bruno set out to retrive it. Director Vitorrio De Sica’s masterstroke is to cast non-professional actors. Instead of associating the performers with previous films, we are able to simply watch them struggle, and realize that they are just everyday people, like us.

As Antonio's despair grows, so does the audience's. He knows that if he does not retrive the bike he will lose his job the next day. The relationship between father and son is taken to breaking point on more than one occasion and the final act of desperation leads to one of the most heartbreaking conlusions in cinema history.

The Bicycle Thief is an outstadning introduction to the Italian neo-realist genre and is a story that will live long in the memory