Bicycle Thieves

Bicycle Thieves (Italian: *Ladri di biciclette*), also released as *The Bicycle Thief*, is a 1948 Italian neorealist drama directed by Vittorio De Sica. The plot centers on a poor father in post-World War II Rome who must find his stolen bicycle or lose the job that was meant to save his struggling family. Cesare Zavattini adapted the screenplay from Luigi Bartolini’s 1946 novel, and the cast includes Lamberto Maggiorani as the father and Enzo Staiola as his young son. The film won an Academy Honorary Award in 1950 for most outstanding foreign language film. In 1952, *Sight & Sound* magazine’s poll of filmmakers and critics named it the greatest film ever made; fifty years later, the same magazine ranked it sixth. By 2012, it placed 33rd among critics and 10th among directors on that list. Turner Classic Movies has cited it as one of cinema’s most influential works, and it is considered part of the classic film canon. At the 1958 World Expo, it ranked third on the Brussels 12 list, and in 2010, *Empire* magazine placed it fourth in “The 100 Best Films of World Cinema.” The Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage also included it among 100 films that “have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978.”

**Plot** In post-war Rome, Antonio Ricci needs work to support his wife Maria, son Bruno, and a baby. He is offered a job posting advertising bills but tells Maria he cannot take it without a bicycle. Maria pawns her dowry bedsheets—prized possessions for a poor family—to redeem Antonio’s bicycle. On his first day, a young man steals the bicycle while Antonio is on a ladder. Antonio chases him but loses the trail due to the thief’s accomplices. The police file a complaint but say little can be done. Returning home bitter, Antonio decides to search for the bicycle himself. He asks a political comrade for help, and the comrade mobilizes his waste-collector colleagues. At dawn, Antonio and Bruno search the Piazza Vittorio market, where stolen goods often appear. They spot a frame that might be Antonio’s, but vendors refuse to let them check the serial number. A carabiniere orders the vendors to allow a reading, but the number does not match. At the Porta Portese market, Antonio sees someone he believes is the thief with an old man. The thief escapes, and the old man feigns ignorance. They follow him into a church, where he slips away. Hopeless, Antonio consults a supposed “holy woman,” but her vague response is almost a joke. Soon after, he encounters the thief by chance in a disreputable area and pursues him into a brothel, where both are ejected. In the street, hostile neighbors gather as Antonio accuses the thief, who fakes a fit, turning the crowd against Antonio. Bruno fetches a policeman, who searches the thief’s apartment without success. The officer tells Antonio the case is weak—no witnesses, and the neighbors will provide an alibi. Antonio and Bruno leave amid jeers and threats. On the way home, they pass the Stadio Nazionale PNF football stadium. Antonio sees an unattended bicycle near a doorway. After agonizing indecision, he tells Bruno to take a tram and wait nearby. Antonio circles the bicycle, then jumps on it. Immediately, a hue and cry is raised. Bruno, who missed the tram, watches in shock as his father is chased, caught, and pulled off the bicycle. As Antonio is dragged toward the police station, the bicycle’s owner notices Bruno in tears and, in a moment of compassion, tells the others to release Antonio. Father and son walk off slowly through a buffeting crowd. Antonio fights back tears, and Bruno takes his hand. **Cast** Uncredited. **Production** *Bicycle Thieves* is the most famous work of Italian neorealism, a movement that began informally with Roberto Rossellini’s *Rome, Open City* (1945) and brought greater realism to Italian cinema. After making *Shoeshine* (1946), De Sica could not secure funding from major studios, so he raised the money himself from friends. To portray post-war poverty and unemployment, he co-wrote the script with Cesare Zavattini and others, using only the title and a few plot points from Luigi Bartolini’s little-known novel. Following neorealist principles, De Sica shot entirely on location (no studio sets) and cast only non-professional actors. Lamberto Maggiorani, for instance, was a factory worker. The fact that some actors’ roles mirrored their real lives added to the film’s realism. De Sica cast Maggiorani after he brought his young son to an audition. He later cast eight-year-old Enzo Staiola after spotting him watching the production on a street while helping his father sell flowers. The final shot—Antonio and Bruno walking away from the camera into the distance—is an homage to Charlie Chaplin, De Sica’s favorite filmmaker. The film uncovers drama in everyday life and the wonderful in daily news. **Title** The original Italian title, *Ladri di biciclette*, translates literally to “thieves of bicycles,” with both *ladri* and *biciclette* in plural form.