1949 Winner, The Bicycle Thief

 The Bicycle Thief

Director:  Vittorio de Sica

Distributed by:  Joseph Burstyn & Arthur Mayer

Released:  December 1949 (in U.S.)

Country:  Italy

One time in seventh grade, finished with basketball practice, I walked out of the gym to the bike rack and found that my Huffy ten-speed had been swiped.  The question I was asked repeatedly, by the cops and by my parents, was whether I had locked the bike.  “Of course!” I insisted, also repeatedly, though I was 99% certain that I hadn’t.  Had anyone pursued the line of questioning, they would have wondered why the bicycle thief had cut the chain, then stole the ruined lock along with the bike. Maybe everyone felt sorry enough for me to just let it go.  In any case, I would have to walk to practice for a while, but life went on, bicycle-less.  The police put the case on ice, and it remains unsolved to this very day.

Father and son during happy times

For Antonio Ricci, the loss of his mode of transportation would have much more dire consequences in 1950’s Best Foreign Film, The Bicycle Thief.  In post-war Italy, the unemployed men wait around for work, hoping to hear their name called by a foreman of some kind, a scene not unlike one that might be found in On the Waterfront or Season Two of The Wire.  Antonio hears his name and rushes to the front of the crowd—the man doling out the job says the gig is for putting up posters all over town.  The one thing you need, though, is a bicycle.  Antonio is in-between bikes at the present, but he can walk.  No bike, no job, barks the foreman. Like I said, Antonio retorts, my bike is in the shop so I’ll get it now.

Really, though, Antonio had hocked his bike to a pawn shop to feed his family.  What to do?  His wife comes up with an idea—we don’t need sheets to sleep on, and we have nice ones.  So they go down and sell the sheets in order to get the bike back.  “Our luck is changing, you’ll see,” assures Antonio.  One doesn’t get the impression that will be the case.

Hey, that's my bike!

So Antonio gets his bike and rides out to do his job.  As he puts up his first poster, a crook comes out of nowhere and rides away with his only mode of transportation and income.  Antonio fails to chase him down, and spends the rest of the movie trying to find the thief and get his bike back. 

Antonio takes his young son Bruno with him, and the two of them do their best so that Antonio can keep his job.  They have a few leads, and make some unfounded accusations, but nothing leads to the reunion with his bike.  In one heartbreaking scene, Antonio takes his frustrations out on Bruno, who seems to idolize his pop.  Antonio, as careless with his son as he was with the bike, will soon discover that the way he reacts to the theft, including how he treats his son, is what he should be worried about more than the theft itself.

Excuse me, sir, did you see my lost bicycle?

The Bicycle Thief is a very simple movie, with no plot twists or surprises.  It is about Man’s inhumanity to Man in times of crisis, but I think it is even more about forgiveness for that inhumanity.  De Sica used non-actors to play out the story, a staple of neorealism, but I don’t think professionals could have elicited more sympathy than Lamberto Maggiorani as Antonio and Enzo Staiola as Bruno do.  There are multiple lessons to be learned: one, be careful who you accuse of wrongdoing; two, don’t let misfortune affect how you treat others; and three, spring for the $15 and invest in a decent bicycle lock—and then, use it!

The Title: Ladri di biciclette.  The Italian title is actually, “Bicycle Thieves,” which I think is the better title, since after the first theft, which is of Antonio’s bike by one goombah, you are left to wonder if there will be more larceny ahead.

The culture:  There are great films about the aftermath of war, including 1939’s Gone with the Wind; Carol Reed’s The Third Man (also from 1949), which shows a broken Vienna; and Kurosawa’s I Live in Fear, about the worry about another Big One being dropped on Japan.  But none is surpassed by The Bicycle Thief in terms of eliciting pathos for the characters and hoping for the best for them.

Agenda danger:  This film has been analyzed and championed by Marxists, capitalists, and the Vatican, with each finding content that supports their views.  What I took away from the movie is how Antonio is essentially a good man, prone to descending into despair, self-pity, and ruthlessness, but also needing to be graced with forgiveness for his own transgressions.    

Tequila!

Best Picture that year:  All The Kings’ Men

Rating:  A classic that should be seen by anyone who likes films.  But if you can’t sit through a foreign film, check out 1985’s Pee-wee's Big Adventure, which is (very) loosely based on The Bicycle Thief.  There’s not as much Italian neo-realism in that film, but on the other hand, it does feature Pee Wee Herman dancing to Tequila.