BICYCLE THIEF, THE

(December 1949, U.S.)

We have finally (and alphabetically) reached the first foreign film in my collection. THE BICYCLE THIEF is not only a great neorealistic Italian film (look up Italian neorealism!), but one of the essential classics of arthouse cinema.

Let me start out by saying that although I have seen my share of movies that are meant to scare audiences, watching THE BICYCLE THIEF actually causes a tremendous sense of dread within me. There is something very psychologically unsettling about knowing beforehand the great misfortune that is going to be bestowed on the film's protaganist. The title of the film already tells us that Antonio Ricci is going to lose the bicycle he so desperately needs to not only work but to feed his family, as well. The moments leading up to the inevitable theft almost make you want to cry out for Ricci to be careful and keep a watchful eye on his bicycle.

THE BICYCLE THIEF is one of the most dramatic stories of human desperation I've ever seen. Knowing that he cannot work or put food on his family's table without his bicycle, Antonio and his son, Bruno, begin a crazed, desperate search all over Rome to try and not only identify the bicycle (in pieces, at times) but the thief (or thieves), as well. It's a lost cause from the start. The marketplace is filled to the brim with bicycles and bicycle parts. The city streets are overrun with people on bicycles. Even when Antonio is miraculously fortunate enough to find the boy who stole his bicycle, he is powerless to find any justice in the matter. A policeman tells him that although he may have seen the boy stealing his bicycle, he didn't catch the thief red-handed, nor has he any witnesses and that Antonio making an accusation is not good enough.

There is a very poignant moment in the film where Antonio and Bruna share a rare treat of a meal in a restaurant. For that brief time, father and son forget their troubles and bond over some tasty mozerella on bread. This doesn't last long, though, and the harsh realities of unemployment and starvation come creeping back into their lives.

Desperation has its final act at the end of the film in one of the most resonant scenes when Antonio is sitting on the curb outside a packed football stadium. He looks at the hundreds of bicycles that are parked outside the stadium and as he cradles his head in despair, a fleet of bicycles mockingly speeds past him. He finally concludes that he has no other option but to steal a bicycle that he spots outside an apartment. Unluckily, he is seen taking the bicycle and caught by a crowd of angry men who slap and humiliate him in front of his son. Ironically, this time with an army of witnesses who catch him, he is marched off to the police station. Before getting there, the owner of the bicycle sees how upset Bruno is and declines to press charges. The film ends with Antonio and Bruno, sad and let down from what has just happened, they walk along in a crowd, leaving us with a dim outlook for Antonio and his family's future.

THE BICYCLE THIEF is not happy film, nor is it meant to give us a happy ending. I should also add that watching this film during our current time of economic recession can only heighten one's sense of dread and uneasiness. But when one can walk away from this film (or any film) with these stong emotions, you know that something in the art of film has worked.

One more observation on all of this; if you've ever seen Robert Altman's THE PLAYER (1992), there is a moment when an ambitious would-be screenwriter makes a cynical crack about how Hollywood would give THE BICYCLE THIEF a happy ending if they ever remade it. Oh, how true, how true! However, in the last decade or so, Hollywood has sunk to the lowest levels of pond scum when it comes to remakes, that those running the studios today would likely have neither the brains nor the balls to even give a great film like THE BICYCLE THIEF that kind of consideration in the first place. The greedy degenerates that run Hollywood today have probably never even seen THE BICYCLE THIEF before. Oh, the horror, the horror!

Favorite line or dialogue:

Antonio Ricci: "We'll eat and be happy for now. There's a cure for everything...except death."