"The Bike Thief" is an outstanding representative work of Italian neo-realistic films. It has won five Italian awards and five international awards. It caused a sensation in France and the United States, and also won praise in China and the former Soviet Union. While the film was successful, it was also criticized in good faith and maliciously criticized from different quarters. But whether it is praise or criticism, it can be said that it is related to the evaluation of the neorealist movement and its principles. As a successful work of this genre, it embodies all the aesthetic principles of neo-realistic film and leaves a remarkable page in the history of film.
The screenwriter of the film Chavatini is known as the founder of neo-realistic film theory. Director De Sica is also the main character of neorealism. Their collaboration began with the pioneering work of "Children Watching Us" (1942). In his article "A Few Views on Film Art" (1952), which is known as the "New Realistic Aesthetics Program", Chavatini talked about his "creative activities based on certain moral and social viewpoints." "As the foundation", in the case of involuntary, "as much as possible to add their own views of the world", so the "Bicycle Thief" is the author consciously stood on the advanced social standpoint, and carried out an analysis of the Italian social structure at the time. criticism. Regardless of the depth and strength of the criticism, it has been exposed to an important problem in Italian social life-unemployment. From here, this film embodies the first principle of neo-realistic film-reflecting the reality of Italian society. The second principle embodied is that the film reflects the daily life of ordinary Italians (worker Anton) (what happened during the loss and finding of bicycles). The third is its documentary style. This film pursues maximum realism in its shooting methods, and all uses street scenes. None of the scenes are shot in the studio setting, which presents Anton’s tragedy and the environment in which the tragedy occurred is very authentic and credible. Fourth, there is no star or professional actor in the film. Maziolani, who plays Anton Ricci, is a worker at the Brida factory. The director brings the children from a long line after selecting hundreds of people. Among the applicants, they were right at first glance. Bruno’s actor is a "quirky kid" the director stumbled across from the crowd watching the lively. He has a round face, a distinctive nose and a pair of big expressive eyes. This is Stariu. Pull" (de Sica memoirs). Carlisle, who plays Anton Ritchie's wife, is a news reporter. Fifth, don't give the audience an answer, let the audience imagine the way out of the characters. At the end of the film, we see Anton and his son disappear into the vast crowd. What should they do? The audience can only leave the cinema with a problem and a heavy heart. There are no heroes, only ordinary people; there are no bizarre and twisted stories, only daily and trivial things; there is no fiction, only people and things in real life. This is a typical creative practice of neo-realism.
As a representative neo-realistic film, "The Biker" has its own unique ideological content and artistic charm. The theft of a bicycle is a trivial matter, but it is the livelihood of Anton Ritchie's family of four. Without a bicycle, it means unemployment again. When Anton got nothing after two days of hard work, he went to steal someone else's car out of helplessness. Unfortunately, he was caught again and was humiliated in front of his son. This is certainly Anton’s personal tragedy, but through Anton’s tragedy, the film also allows us to see a deeper social tragedy—the poor cannot survive, so they can only steal from each other. The thief who had been caught by An Dong was so thin and pitiful. His home was even poorer than An Dong's. Even An Dong felt heavy when he looked at it. The thief is suffering from unemployment. The shadow of unemployment loomed over the whole of Italy in 1948, and the unemployment wave hit a large area of the poor. The film reveals the huge social theme of Italy in that era through trivial things like bicycle theft, a typical local transportation tool at the time.
The film’s drama structure is extremely ingenious. The whole film is composed of unrelated, accidental trivia or episodes; they have no causal relationship and can not promote the development of the plot, which breaks the traditional dramaturgy. . The film appears to be loose, but in fact it is extremely rigorous. The events in each paragraph seem to have happened accidentally in life, but they have been carefully arranged. Anton and his son ran on the streets and alleys. We also followed them to see the bustling bicycle market, the prosperous female magistrates, the beggars who are good at adapting to the living environment, the churches that donate vegetable soup, the brothels, the den of thieves and so on. The film turns these accidental events and sentient beings into the themes of drama. Every shot and every scene is very exciting and full of dramatic charm. It makes the essential things in life appear in an accidental state, allowing the audience to think, judge and draw conclusions by themselves. , Instead of directly instilling thoughts and intentions, preaching. The film also abandons the montage presentation method, maintains the real time flow of the event, and reproduces each event as natural, real, and intimate as in life.
The film shows the isolation and helplessness of Anton Ritchie in that society. Except for a few poor friends who temporarily helped him search the market for a while out of personal friendship, he was helpless. He had counted on the police station, but the police station would never send out detectives for the poor to lose a small bicycle (although it is a major event in Anton). The police station exists only to protect the wealth of the wealthy. Later, when Anton caught the thief, Bruno called the police, and it really didn't help, because Anton didn't get twice on the spot, and there was no evidence. (If you want to be able to get both loot, why bother with the police!) As for the Catholic Church that takes "doing good" as its bounden duty, those benefactors who care about your anxieties, whoever disturbs their "sacred" order, can't forgive them. Their rude attitude towards Anton and his son is actually an excellent irony of religion by the film author. In the vast crowd, who can Anton count on to help him and share his worries? Only the weak Bruno. Bruno is the best foil for Anton Ritchie's unannounced situation.
Bruno plays a very important role in the film. A series of details of Anton Ritchie's treatment of Bruno highlight the changes in Anton Ritchie's mood. Bruno followed his father on broken steps, sometimes leading, sometimes beside, or deliberately falling behind because of sadness (Bazin thinks that the director has a lot to do with the gait handling of the father and son, "involving the scene scheduling itself"), always Dedicated to the "highest task" of finding a bicycle on which the whole family depends for survival. But with the passage of time, Anton's desire to retrieve the car became increasingly diminished. At the beginning, at the Vittorio Market, Anton encouraged Bruno to "kiss" him if he finds a car. Then, while hiding from the rain in Baotaimen, Anton was angry that Bruno was covered in mud and water, but still handed him a handkerchief to wipe his face. Later, in the process of chasing the beggar, Bruno left his father and was about to urinate at the wall, when Anton sternly stopped him. This detail seems to be very random when inserted, but it actually reflects Anton's increasing impatience. Bruno was so sensible and took the initiative to share family worries that were not commensurate with his age. From the highest reward of "kiss" to "slap", the film author vividly showed Anton's out-of-control emotional changes.
The setting of Bruno's role also shifts the film from revealing social issues to the description of Anton's personal life, thus enriching the film's flesh and blood, and deepening the significance of this tragedy from the ethical level. Another wonderful accidental detail of the film has nothing to do with the plot, but it describes Anton’s mentality in full detail and accuracy. When he heard that a boy fell into the water, he thought Bruno had an accident. His association was very natural, because of course his son was the first in his subconscious. The harm his rough behavior had caused him had already made him very uneasy, but Because looking for a car occupied all his thoughts, he didn't have time to clean it up. He was panicked by instinct when he heard that someone fell into the water. Only then did he realize that bicycles are a trivial matter compared to his son. The film portrays the inner world of the characters through such details. Chavatini pointed out that New Realism does not exclude psychoanalysis, because psychology is "one of the many constituent factors of real life", which is confirmed in this film. Anton has a sacred place in Bruno's mind, just like all children, he always has respect for his father. At the end of the film, Bruno witnessed his father being abused. It is more embarrassing for the father than the abuse, and nothing is more cruel than losing his dignity in front of his son; for the son, the father fell from the position of God in his heart, the same. It's sad. This tragedy is the greatest tragedy in the world, giving the film a shocking power. Although the owner of the car released Anton, what remained in the audience's heart was infinite love and helplessness. They were helpless and melancholy. They looked at the two father and son who disappeared in the crowd, worrying about how they could survive the loss of bicycles and lost bicycles. Difficult years of livelihood and loss of dignity. Someone said: "New realism does not hint at the answer, does not point out the way out. The ending of the new realist film is very ambiguous." Zivatini said that he "will never accept this accusation...because reality is like this", and He believes that "in every shot, the film continues to answer the questions that occur."
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