= 4 stars

Starring Lamberto Maggiorani
Directed by Vittorio De Sica

Amazon Link

Fairly brilliant is the least I can say about The Bicycle Thief. It begins as an older foreign film usually does, as we meet a working class family in a sunny, far off town, struggling to make ends meet. But as the plot moves forward, its brilliance through careful storytelling and simple cinematic techniques shines through.

A man needs work. He finds a job as a poster distributer, but there’s one catch: he needs a bicycle. His wife sells their sheets in order to buy one. The family has so little money, they go into hock for that slim chance at a steady job. They are proud of the bicycle, and the man’s son helps polish it. The man’s wife buys him lunch for his new job. But a random disaster occurs: the bicycle is stolen. Thus begins the man’s hunt for the thief, and hence the film’s title.

The film changes into a character study. The quest for the bicycle pushes the man through various emotions and stressful situations. He feels anger, sadness, revenge, hopelessness, and ultimately despair.

Throughout, the film retains a realistic, almost documentary feel. Simple cinematic techniques come into play at every turn. A long, slow pan along miles of repaired bicycles taunts the man. People board crowded buses, demonstrating the inconvenience of the city transportation, which accentuates the usefulness of a bicycle. A most subtle and elegant image comes near the end, with a single pole, center frame, separating the man and the object of his desire.

The film’s conclusion is dutifully sad, and the man’s shame is magnified by the camera which stays on him, and he tries to hide from it. But why the sad ending? Doesn’t a man have a right to reclaim what is his? The cause is just; why is he ultimately punished and humiliated? There are two ways one can look at this allegory. One, which I believe is the director’s intent, is to show how terrible circumstances sometimes force good, decent people to become bad. This is a criticism of society, that the poor and underprivileged can become trapped, even when they try to better themselves.

My personal take is more philosophical than social: one must be conscious of the point where ends do not justify the means. The quest to right a wrong is only moral while it doesn’t cause more problems than the initial incident. The theft was wrong, but the man’s quest to find the thief caused harm to his most dear relationships and ultimately his view of himself as a person. Therefore his quest became unworthy, although it started with a just intent.

I think of the Confucian relationships for social stability, that between father and son, eldest brother and younger brother, husband and wife, elders and juniors, and between ministers and subjects. As the man’s quest for the bicycle thief consumes his life, these relationships are broken. The Bicycle Thief is a simple moral fable, but has some social and philosophical statements that belie its simple storytelling and film-making.

IMDB: The Bicycle Thief
Wikipedia: The Bicycle Thief
Rotten Tomatoes: The Bicycle Thief 100%

Categories: 4 Star Movies, Movies :: Tags: 4 stars, Lamberto Maggiorani, The Bicycle Thief, Vittorio De Sica :: Trackback URL
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