Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di biciclette) (1948)

8.4	Listal rating
8.4	IMDB rating

Directed by

Vittorio De Sica

Starring (View all)

Antonio Ricci

Bruno Ricci

Maria Ricci

Baiocco

The Thief

The Beggar

The Charitable Lady

A Beggar

Written by (View all)

Luigi Bartolini

(novel)

Cesare Zavattini

writer

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Ladri Di Biciclette (The Bicycle Thieves) Trailer

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Reviews

Unfathomably overrated.

5 years ago at May 6 23:52

PvtCaboose91

2 votes

"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. read more

bicycle thieves

1 year, 5 months ago at Dec 1 1:47

bharath

1 vote

Antonio Ricci is an unemployed man in the depressed post-World War II economy of Italy. With a wife and two children to support, he is desperate for work. He is delighted to at last get a good job pasting up posters, but he must have a bicycle. He is told unequivocally, "No bicycle, no job." His wife Maria pawns their bedsheets in order to get money to redeem his bicycle from the pawnbroker.
... read more

father-son relationship

5 years ago at Apr 27 11:54

doudouce55

1 vote

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... read more

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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 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)

Release date : 13 December 1949
UPC: 014381457223

Italy (27), Drama (21), Neorealism (16), 1940s (15), 1948 (15), Italian (14), Bicycle (9), Crime (9), Thief (7), Unemployment (7), Poster (6), Social Issues (5), Foreign (5), Face Slap (5), Chase (5), (4), Ladder (4), Father Son Relationship (3), Poverty (3), Seizure (3)

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cecimorin voted for a review of Bicycle Thieves 2 days, 7 hours ago

“"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 ”

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"Culprit: David Jenkins "De Sica's neo-realist lodestone may have retained its vitality over the decades, but whatever sense of anger it whipped up in the disgruntled masses of postwar Rome feels lost to the excessively syrupy score." 2/5 Date: December 19, 2008"

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"Special/Honorary Award - Italy - Vittorio De Sica "

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"Country of Origin: Italy"

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" Bicycle Thieves is a triumphant discovery of the fundamentals of cinema and De Sica has openly acknowledged his debt to Chaplin. - Satyajit Ray"

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"Why it's Overrated: #13 on TSPDT Top 1000. 98% positive reviews from critics. What I think: I feel bad putting this on here, it should have been great, but I guess just none of it stuck with me. I don't even know what to say, everything was just so pointless and awkward. I... don't get this movie. I didn't miss anything, I just don't get it."

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Movies the giraffe watched: February 2013 (21 movies items)

"First viewing - Feb. 13th While I can easily enough admire the technical aspects of this film all around & was consistently entertained, I can't say I ever really connected with this film on an emotional level. And the ending left me rather dry. So it's unlikely I'd watch this one again, though if someone suggested doing so I wouldn't say no in hopes maybe I'd like it better. Probably just a matter of taste. Currently streaming on Netflix"

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They Shoot Pictures Don't They? (2013) (1000 movies items)

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Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di biciclette) (1948)

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