Anyway, I kinda liked this movie, and I kinda didn't. I was hoping for a better ending, it's just so sad. They had finally found a way out of poverty and it was ruined by someone else in poverty. I really like the scene right before Ricci decides to steal the bicycle. I think that we truly get a sense of the conflict in his heart. He wants to provide for his family, but he also doesn't want to take the opportunity away from someone else. What really made me mad was when he was riding away on the bike, and the owner shouted "thief!" Tons of people started chasing after Ricci, but when Ricci's bike was stolen and he shouted, no one came to help him.Another thing I noticed was that Ricci's son, Bruno, works at a gas station. Now in Ciao Professore, there was big conflict about this, but in The Bicycle Thief, it was sort of pushed to the side. I think this is because the movies focus is more on the job and struggles of the father, rather than those of his son. We're made to feel bad for the father and his predicament, and we desperately want him to find the bike, for the sake of his family.
Poverty is defiantly a big issue in the film, not only for the Ricci's but for everyone. I am certain that the man who stole Ricci's bike did so to make some quick cash. It was a time right after war, and everyone had so little. Another scene that I thought stood out was the one where Ricci's sell their sheets and the man behind the counter goes to stack them. There's got to be hundreds, if not thousands of sheets there, and one only has to wonder how many people were forced into selling basic comforts.
I agree with your choice to talk about the sheets scene. That was a moment where everything was put into scale for us. It's so depressing thinking of all those people, not only without sheets, but maybe even beds, food, shelter. Who knows what else they had to pawn out after they gave away their sheets? There were definitely 1000s of sheets, it's so sad to think about.
ReplyDeleteI think the concept of the kid working at the gas station being pushed to the side was, if you put the historical part of the film in context was that child labor laws were not so strict in that time and it was more okay for kids to work than be in school. In some poorer circles it was encouraged. But I mean with the ending...what did you think was going to happen? That he was going to find his bike and get a job with a raise and they'd be happy? That would take the film out of it's message and I think that message is important and like much of neorealism...that's life.
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