Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45410 in DVD
• Released on: 1998-11-24
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, DVD-Video, PAL
• Original language: English, Italian
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 93 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Vittorio De Sica's remarkable 1947 drama of desperation and survival in Italy's devastating post-war depression earned a special Oscar for its affecting power. Shot in the streets and alleys of Rome, De Sica uses a real-life environment to frame his moving drama of a desperate father whose new job delivering cinema posters is threatened when a street thief steals his bicycle. Too poor to buy another, he and his son take to the streets in an impossible search for his bike. Cast with non-professional actors and filled with the real street life of Rome, this landmark film helped define the Italian neorealist approach with its mix of real life details, poetic imagery, and warm sentimentality. De Sica uses the wandering pair to witness the lives of everyday folks, but ultimately he paints a quiet, poignant portrait of father and son, played by Lamberto Maggiorani and Enzo Staiola, whose understated performances carry the heart of the film. De Sica and scenarist Cesare Zavattini also collaborated on Shoeshine, Miracle in Milan, and Umberto D, all classics in the neorealist vein, but none of which approach the simple poetry and quiet power achieved in The Bicycle Thieves. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

everyday as heroism
this film sticks in my mind as one of the best and purest films made. it is beautifully shot and subtley acted (by amateurs) and it gives out a message to its audience.

this was the film that really defined the neo-realism movement. it was the first time that a style or movement could be clearly seen. the film seems so simple, and on one level it is, but at the same time it has underlying motives - humanism vs. fascism for example. but don't let this seemingly heavy subject put you off. the film is so good you can just WATCH the film and not SEE if you want.

on one level this film aches with a beauty and heartbreack rarely captured in any text. i rate this higher than any other neo-realism films - rome,open city, paisa or ossessione - and that is because it is so watchable.

the film offers up so many questions-about morality, responsibility, masculinity-and does it under the guise of reality-and reality is what is captured on screen in all its beauty and ugliness.

please watch this film!

A beautiful compelling film
Nice to see such insightful reviews by the film studies students ('boooooooooring')... perhaps well acted, intelligent, and ground breaking films aren't their style?!

This classic film depicts the quiet desperation of a poor family in Rome attempting to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of World War 2. The social impact of Italy's shattered economy is reflected by the heartbreaking scene at the beginning where a crowd of unemployed men wait desperately for work.

The simple premise of a man in search of a bicycle (which he needs to sustain his family)takes the viewer on a spiritual and political quest for identity and meaning through all levels of society. Along the way we meet priests, police, the bourgeoise, fortunetellers, peddlers, crooks, beggars and thieves.

The direction is compelling and the cinematography decades ahead of its time. The father son relationship is especially well explored - the acting of young boy who watches his father's gradual moral and spiritual collapse is unforgettable. The Bicycle Thief also has one of the most emotionally powerful endings I have ever seen.

cinema belissimo
pure italian neo-realism. perhaps the most moving story cinema has offered us, this film tells the story of a working man struggling to provide for his family. beautifully shot, perfectly acted (mostly by amateurs - the lead went on to become a famous actor) this film is so heart breaking it doesn't need me explaining it. favourite scene? when father treats son with a meal during his harshest day. belissimo.