Bicycle Thieves Essay

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Neorealism is a national film movement that didn’t start until after WW2, when Italy was still recovering from the aftermath of the war, which was essentially what kickstarted the movement. The war did, in fact, mark an important moment in cinema that saw a great change within the Italian film industry It would seem understandable that Bicycle Thieves would become a iconic example of Italian neorealism. (Shiel)1. This essay will explore how neorealism is a rich movement of art, complexity and human truthfulness, that resonates for us powerfully through watching Bicycle Thieves, a 1948 film directed by Vittorio De Sica, a story about a impoverished father searching for his stolen bicycle, the key to his family’s well-being.

The aftermath and
The opening scene of a crowd of unemployed men flocking around an officer who is announcing a job offer shows the distress of the society during the time. Following the main protagonist, Ricci, an unemployed man just like any other, is given a job as a film poster hanger. When the character manages to obtain his bike according to the contract to receive the job offer, his first job is to paste an American film poster around the city. As part of his job, he is given a clear instruction to “be sure not to leave wrinkles” as he posts the posters. It could be said that this is an identification of one of the most strongest complaints from the neorealist filmmakers had at the time, against typical Hollywood glamour films, which normally starred unrealistically flawless performers. This attack on stereotypical hollywood convention is accentuated when De Sica clearly goes against this standard through casting actors of ‘ordinary faces’ as his characters, giving example, the representation of the people in the film “Bicycle Thieves” are not beautiful as the way the main characters are usually presented in Hollywood. The Hollywood glamour and classic escapist films essentially an antagonist that is used

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