The Bicycle Thief (1948)

Wow, what a great movie. One of those movies that's just great to watch. You pop it in, and before you know it, the film's already over. It's an easy, effortless watch. Not that there's no substance, though. It evokes a very emotional response in the viewer, in addition to the compelling plot.

I really admired the way that De Sica effortlessly puts in little touches that completely illustrate the state of poverty in Italy at that time. Like when the family sells off their sheets to afford the bicycle, and the man at the Pawn Shop has to climb up a huge wall, full of sheets, and you realize that so many families were forced to hock things like this simply to survive. There are plenty of little touches like this in the film that go a long way towards establishing how bad the economic situation was at that time.

Also, it definitely does a great job of showing a Father-Son relationship. These people are not perfect, as shown when Anthony slaps his son after he annoys him. Though as soon as he does it, the camera cuts to his own face and you immediately see the regret and remorse wash over his face. At the end, he sends his son away, just so he isn't a negative influence on him. He's not perfect, but he's simply trying to keep his family alive in these tenuous times.

It's through illustrating the dire straits of the time and place, that the events of the film are able to get such an emotional response from the viewer, especially at the very end of the film. Yes, Anthony steals a bicycle, but we've seen everything leading up to it, and we completely understand his motivations in doing so. Heck, in that situation, I'd imagine most would do the same as he did. At the end, when the crowd catches up to him, you feel fear, because you don't know what they're going to do to him, and you understand that his hand was forced by his situation. The film ends with him and his son walking down the streets of Rome, still poor, but free. You begin to wonder if Anthony hadn't preferred to be thrown in jail or be lynched on the spot, for his actions. Makes you wonder if death would have been better than living in such a state.