Bicycle Thieves
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I continue to watch movies I have never seen before that are considered classics — plus a bunch of old Film Noir, a genre I am drawn to. Thank goodness for the public library system which, it seems, can find anything.
Ladri Di Biciclette (Bicycle Thieves) (1948) is lauded as the great classic Italian Neorealism movie, and I can see why. It feels revolutionary in its use of real people, real places, and a sense of gritty truth. It's a huge step from studio stages, matinee idols, and the fantasy world of many other movies (not that I don't enjoy those).
But does it hold up as a movie to watch today, outside of its importance to film history? After all, there are plenty of "classic" books and artworks that I know are important, but that I don't personally enjoy.
The casting in this movie is perfect. The young son with the expressive eyes who idolizes his father, only to witness his downfall — oh my! Incredible. We see him lose his innocence regarding his father but — in what seems more true to life than the average movie — he does not lose his love. He adjusts, just as we do in reality.
We literally see dirty laundry aired as we learn about a family who are one tiny step away from ruin; already in poverty, they scrape by on the cusp of destitution. It is not melodrama, it is not romanticized. It just is.
Very much like Tokyo Story (1953) that I previously reviewed, the story is (deliberately, here) an ephemeral thing. Once again, it's the mood of the film that seeped into me. Most memorable for me were things that I am not sure the filmmakers even intended to stand out so much. The city flows with crowds moving in unison. People object and gesture in groups as they only do in big European cities; their movements flow through jostling crowds like waves. The motion is frenetic and stressed, yet somehow beautiful on film. Look for it.
This film was once voted the greatest of all time, and still regularly appears in top ten lists. I doubt I'd go that far — but I would recommend seeing it. You could even watch it as I did - while on a stationary exercise bicycle...