It's extremely difficult to write a review of Bicycle Thieves without mentioning the influence it had on world cinema, but had it not been for Bicycle Thieves directors like Kurosawa, Ozu, or Satyajit Ray (who in turn went on to inspire the vast bulk of the Hollywood renaissance, ie. Coppola, Lucas, Scorcese, etc) would have been deprived of one of their biggest influences. In other words, no Bicycle Thieves means no Pather Panchali, no Ikiru, no Tokyo Story, and therefore no Godfather, Taxi Driver or The Conversation. It might sound like an exaggeration, but without Bicycle Thieves, at least one quarter of the last half-century's greatest movies might have never been made.
Many reviews here have already commented on the superb level of acting (which is remarkable given that virtually everyone is a non-professional) and the moving storyline, so it's difficult to add anything of substance. That said, I still can't decide whether the outlook of Bicycle Thieves is pessimistic, subversive, or neither. Andre Bazin famously called Bicycle Thieves the only true communist film of the 1940s, but I'm not entirely sure if that applies. There are allusions to the class struggle (particularly during the scene in the restaurant), but the film falls short of directly calling for a radical social change, instead portraying the working class of Italy as hopelessly divided by its own poverty, unemployment and greed. While that in itself may suggest De Sica's desire for a proletariat united against injustices posed by the system (an old Marxist chestnut), it's still a comment the film never makes in a literal form - if it's there, it's hidden away somewhere in the narrative for the audience to decipher themselves. In that respect Bicycle Thieves quite clearly differs from many other Italian neo-realist movies like Ossessione, because it does not directly criticise the capitalist system, instead preferring to remain ambiguous and leaving the audience to arrive at their own conclusions about the fate of Antonio and Bruno (the most lovable and sympathetic father-and-son pairing I've ever seen on film, I hasten to add) and of Italian society in general. In a way it's probably for the best that De Sica has chosen to portray the message of the film in an ambiguous light instead of patronising his audience with lectures and slogans (a la Ken Loach), since it enables him to portray social injustice without running the risk of alienating his audience, something which many politically motivated film makers inadvertently tend to do.
Its ideological implications aside, Bicycle Thieves is a cinematic milestone as well as one of the most emotionally moving films you'll ever see. Highly recommended.
Many reviews here have already commented on the superb level of acting (which is remarkable given that virtually everyone is a non-professional) and the moving storyline, so it's difficult to add anything of substance. That said, I still can't decide whether the outlook of Bicycle Thieves is pessimistic, subversive, or neither. Andre Bazin famously called Bicycle Thieves the only true communist film of the 1940s, but I'm not entirely sure if that applies. There are allusions to the class struggle (particularly during the scene in the restaurant), but the film falls short of directly calling for a radical social change, instead portraying the working class of Italy as hopelessly divided by its own poverty, unemployment and greed. While that in itself may suggest De Sica's desire for a proletariat united against injustices posed by the system (an old Marxist chestnut), it's still a comment the film never makes in a literal form - if it's there, it's hidden away somewhere in the narrative for the audience to decipher themselves. In that respect Bicycle Thieves quite clearly differs from many other Italian neo-realist movies like Ossessione, because it does not directly criticise the capitalist system, instead preferring to remain ambiguous and leaving the audience to arrive at their own conclusions about the fate of Antonio and Bruno (the most lovable and sympathetic father-and-son pairing I've ever seen on film, I hasten to add) and of Italian society in general. In a way it's probably for the best that De Sica has chosen to portray the message of the film in an ambiguous light instead of patronising his audience with lectures and slogans (a la Ken Loach), since it enables him to portray social injustice without running the risk of alienating his audience, something which many politically motivated film makers inadvertently tend to do.
Its ideological implications aside, Bicycle Thieves is a cinematic milestone as well as one of the most emotionally moving films you'll ever see. Highly recommended.