The Bicycle Thief (Ladri di biciclette) (1948)

8.3	Listal rating
8.4	IMDB rating

Italy (11), Drama (8), Italian (7), Neorealism (6), 1940s (5), Crime (3), 1948 (3), Foreign (3), Thief (3), Bicycle (2), Unemployment (2), Social Issues (2), Chase (2), Catholic Church (1), Face Slap (1), Avi (1), Father Son Relationship (1), Policeman (1), Soup (1), Police Officer (1)

Description

The recipient of international acclaim, Vittorio de Sica's Italian Neorealist masterwork, THE BICYCLE THIEF, is a treasure of world cinema. After nearly two years of unemployment, Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani) ... Full Descriptionfinally finds work posting bills. But he needs a bicycle to do the job. Unfortunately, he was forced to pawn his own The recipient of international acclaim, Vittorio de Sica's Italian Neorealist masterwork, THE BICYCLE THIEF, is a treasure of world cinema. After nearly two years of unemployment, Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani) ... Full Descriptionfinally finds work posting bills. But he needs a bicycle to do the job. Unfortunately, he was forced to pawn his own bicycle long ago. In a humbling, tragic scene, Antonio exchanges his family's linen for his bicycle. But when the bike is stolen on his first day of work, he must comb the streets of Rome in search of the bike: his family's only means to survival. After three days of hunting, Antonio and his son, Bruno (Enzo Staiola), find the thief (Vittorio Antonucci)--but without witnesses or evidence, the police are unwilling to help Antonio. Hopeless, Antonio and Bruno wander aimlessly through Rome, landing outside of a soccer stadium where hundreds of bicycles are parked. His will broken, Antonio attempts to steal a bike but is caught in the act. Thematically, Vittoria de Sica's THE BICYCLE THIEF details an everyman story of loss of innocence in the face of a destitute society, while the film's poignant acting and directing creates an individual and heart-wrenching tale of one man's struggle to feed his family. The film is often considered one of the masterpieces of 20th century cinema.

Shot on location in Rome, De Sica purposefully avoided the city's most striking monuments in order to make the story more universal. Unable to gain studio funding, De Sica produced the film himself, using the financial support of his friends for backing. Most Neorealist films used non-actors as a means of heightening the reality of the film. Lamberto Maggiroani, the film's lead, was a 39 year old steelworker who lost his real job after the film finished production. THE BICYCLE THIEF won awards from the British Film Academy and the New York Film Critics. It also received the grand prize at the Brussels Film Festival, and an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

... (more)

Directed by

Vittorio De Sica

Starring (View all) :

Antonio Ricci

Bruno Ricci

Maria Ricci

Baiocco

The Thief

The Beggar

The Charitable Lady

A Beggar

Secretary of the Charity Organization

Emma Druetti

Secretary of the Charity Organization

Written by (View all) :

Luigi Bartolini

(novel)

Cesare Zavattini

(writer)

Videos


	Ladri Di Biciclette (The Bicycle Thieves) Trailer A trailer I made for Ladri Di Biciclette (The Bicy...

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	78 votes IMDb Top 250 [Official] (250 items) by Prelude Last updated 5 months, 3 weeks ago 11 comments 63 votes 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (1000 items) by upidipi Published 7 months ago 8 comments 25 votes 300 great films (300 items) by The Wolf Published 10 months, 1 week ago 5 comments 24 votes 100 Great Foreign Movies (100 items) by coroner Last updated 11 months, 4 weeks ago 6 comments 23 votes Watched films in 2009 (jawing in Finnish) (85 items) by The Wolf Published 9 months, 2 weeks ago 2 comments View all lists

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Cover art, photos and screenshots

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Ratings of The Bicycle Thief

8.3/10
141 global ratings

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Reviews of The Bicycle Thief (Ladri di biciclette) - View all - Post review

PvtCaboose91

Unfathomably overrated.

Posted : 1 year, 6 months ago at May 6 23:52

"There's a cure for everything except death." I know I'm in the severe minority here, but The Bicycle Thief is a film I found to be just tolerable as opposed to great. The film is a poignant character study that was an intrepid move at the time of its release. Critics have hailed it as being an all-time classic and the film even won a special Oscar at the Academy Awards of 1949. I thought The Bicycle Thief was an extraordinarily good drama that delivers a powerful message; however I felt that the whole film built up to an inadequate conclusion. People may say that this is missing the point of the movie. But if it has a point to convey I expected it to be delivered faster as opposed to stretching out the whole thing for 90 minutes. For this message I felt it could have come and gone ...Read more

Rating : 7/10

0 comments

doudouce55

father-son relationship

Posted : 1 year, 6 months ago at Apr 27 11:54

While this film is correctly known as one of the key works of Italian neorealism, this masterpiece is also one of the great communist films. It also received the 1949 Oscar for best foreign film!

This film contains what is possibly the greatest depiction of a relationship between a father and a son in the history of cinema, full of subtle fluctuations and evolving gradations between the two characters in terms of respect and trust. Moreover, it’s an awesome heartbreaker.

Rating : 8/10