In Rome after World War II, unemployment and poverty have become the norm in the city every day, and scarce labor positions have become a resource for people to compete for. Ricky Antonio, who has been out of work for a long time, struggled to find a job posting posters, but this job requires laborers to own a bicycle. For the family's future livelihood, his wife Maria had to pawn her dowry---six flyers in exchange for a bicycle. The bicycle was stolen on the first day of work, so Ricky took his son with him. After searching the streets and alleys of Rome, he couldn't find the bicycle he lived on. Seeing that there is no hope of finding a car, Ricky decides to fight back in a hurry. Unexpectedly, his luck is not as good as other thieves, and he almost goes to jail for attempted car theft.
As a representative work of Italian neorealism, the film won a special Oscar. With a simple story about the theft of an ordinary laborer's bicycle, the small sees the big, and it truly restores the living conditions of Italians after World War II. The whole film is filled with a hopeless mood and a tone of sadness and grief. The camera lens, editing, natural light, background music, and the natural performance of amateur actors in the labor market are very suitable for the social reality at that time. This realistic shooting method avoids the profound ideological communication and artistic style, and focuses on depicting the cruel social status quo in which the toiling masses struggled to survive after the war. People pin their hopes on the gods, but they are fooled by the inexplicable instructions of the goddess. . It is worth mentioning that the performance of the little boy in this film is very eye-catching, innocent and agile, influenced by his father's emotions, and tries his best to cooperate with his father to find the stolen bicycle. His lively nature makes people feel pity for him.
With repeated failures, the father's image also collapsed in the little boy's heart. There is no unexpected development in the plot. The whole film uses plain and simple methods to create the distress and anxiety of the victims, as if the audience is also in it, complaining about their own experiences but seeing no hope. Just as the goddess in the film made a powerless prophecy:
Before the first leaf fell, your son found it
Change it, she doesn't like you.
If your bike is not found today, it will never be found.
Yes, I am like a man in chains, cursed from birth.
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