Bicycle Thieves Historical Context
Orson welles s citizen kane 1941 and vittorio de sica s bicycle thieves 1948.
Bicycle thieves historical context. Though separated by world war ii the two movies symbolize the cardinal impulses that came to captivate serious audiences critics and filmmakers after the war. The uk title is bicycle thieves. Bicycle thieves de sica 1945 opening shots. Ricci an unemployed man in the depressed post wwii economy of italy gets at last a good job for which he needs a bike hanging up posters.
The bicycle thief is the american title. Bicycle thieves also called the bicycle thief study guide contains a biography of director vittorio de sica literature essays quiz questions major themes characters and a full summary and an. To celebrate this good news i decided to post the detailed notes i wrote for students in 2002 the whole thing is 4 000 words plus. He and his son set out to find it.
In post war italy a working class man s bicycle is stolen. Paying tribute to the eponymous italian neorealist film in which a worker spends all his family savings to buy the bicycle needed for a new job but ends up losing the bike at the hands of a thief on his first day of work the group exhibition extends the film s. In this analysis i am going to explore vittorio de sica s film ladri di biciclette bicycle thieves italy 1948 vittorio de sica and look at how the ideas and themes in this neo realistic film were created as well as looking at the italian historical context of the. A note on titles.
Bicycle thieves clearly represents the relationship between ricci and rome as a crisis by constantly showing the struggles of its people during the aftermath of world war ii in the mise en scene. The uk gets a re release of the classic neo realist film bicycle thieves next week courtesy of arrow and park circus. Sometimes known in the united states as the bicycle thief is a 1948 italian neorealist drama film directed by vittorio de sica it follows the story of a poor father searching post world war ii rome for his stolen bicycle without which he will lose the job which was to be the salvation of his young family. The tendencies they signaled ones soon fused into a singular.
In the beginning of the film ricci is called upon because he has been selected for a government job. Bicycle thieves is interested in the fine line between sharing and stealing. The bicycle thieves and how it relates to its national and historical context of production. A long continuous take then dissolves into a tracking shot as a group of men gather hurriedly at the foot of some steps.
Right from the start the film uses its realist aesthetic to foreground two key ideas.