Cinema
Bicycle Thieves
Ladri di biciclette
Vittorio De Sica · 1948
Synopsis
Rome, after the war. Antonio Ricci, unemployed, is offered a job as a bill-poster for the municipality, on condition that he has a bicycle. His wife Maria pawns the sheets from her trousseau to redeem the one he had pawned. On the very first day, while he is on his ladder, a young thief takes it. With his son Bruno, Antonio sets out to search the markets of Rome to find it.
Context
The film starts from a novel by Luigi Bartolini published in 1946, of which it keeps little, and its screenplay, written by several hands, owes most to Cesare Zavattini. An American producer had offered to finance it if Cary Grant played the lead; the director refused. Antonio is played by Lamberto Maggiorani, a factory worker, and Bruno by Enzo Staiola, a child spotted among the onlookers at the shoot. Released in the United States under the title “The Bicycle Thief”, it now bears the English title “Bicycle Thieves”.
Who it is for
A film of about an hour and a half, in Italian, shot on location in the Italian capital.
Prizes and reception
Honorary Oscar for best foreign-language film, for a work shot entirely with non-professional performers.
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