Bicycle Theives: the Unspoken Allure of Communism

rhythm Thieves The Unspoken Allure of Communism wheel Thieves is an exemplary demonstration of Italian neorealism that seeks to use non-professional actors to illustrate the press of average people surviving under a Fascist government. De Sicas use of enter techniques such as close-ups heightens the effect of his neo-realist aesthetic, especially seen in his street-level depictions of Rome in the aftermath of World War II. The poverty and desperation captured by De Sicas cinematography and narrative choices illustrates that capitalism has failed the Italian people, providing them merely with grinding poverty and inward despair.By charge on the mundane details of a simple mans life, rather than a narrative involving high drama, the consume effectively captures the humiliating effects of class disparity while highlighting the role that communism could draw in the improvement of life for the Italian people, if just now a sense of community could be established. conductor Vittor io De Sica uses wheel Thieves as a vehicle in which to stress the burdens faced by the exclusive in a heartless and uncaring community.He has stated that his aesthetic intention with the film was to reintroduce the dramatic into quotidian situations, the marvellous in a little news item considered by most people posting material (Cheshire), and so too is his main character, Antonio, a throwaway person. As an unemployed person, he has no value to the larger society and no apparent worth to his family as a provider. It is only in one case he justs a position as a poster-hanger that he begins to see himself as a oil-bearing member of society.De Sica illustrates the importance of this job by demonstrating Antonios increasing desperation when his bicyclean item he cannot do his job withoutis stolen. His neo virtual(prenominal) trend stems more from moral imperative than from necessity because, as critic Godfrey Cheshire notes in Bicycle Thieves A Passionate consignment to the Real, the film was not shot in the low-budget style associated with neorealism, and sort of was mounted by a team of movie professionals working on a budget unstinted enough to allow for large-scale shootings, hundreds of extras, and even the apparatus necessary to create a fake ainstorm (Cheshire). However, De Sica manages to go for an atmosphere of true realism that is heightened by depictions carefully chosen to display Antonios quick downward coil as he and his son ultimately fail to recover the lost bicycle. This devastating loss propels Antonio into a life of crime, demonstrating that under an uncaring government and without neighborly support, the poor have no choice except to hurt each some other for lack of a better outlet, and that those who are stolen from eventually become thieves as well. De Sica creates drama and illustrates his point by putting his protagonist in an unwinnable situation.Although Antonio has been offered a job, he can only take it if he has a b icycle. Due to financial circumstances, the bicycle has been pawned. In this way, De Sica establishes the character of Antonios wife, Maria, who agrees to pawn their layer sheets to pay for the bicycle. This demonstrates that material comfort is secondary to the security that will come with stable employment. The actors themselves play a huge role in successfully portraying De Sicas message, and he sticks to the requirements of neorealism by using only non-professional actors.As film theorist Andre Bazin states, none of the actors had the slightest experience in theatre or film. The workman came from the Breda factory, the child was constitute respite around in the street, the wife was a journalist (Bazin). An added level of realism can be found in using average people with faces that show the effects of time and experience. In his essay, Bicycle Thieves Ode to the green Man. Charles Burnett notes the effect of De Sicas choice to use non-professional actors, writing that their f aces are so expressive they seem to be vie themselves (Burnett).To further this realism, the director takes a similar approach with his background players. For example, in the pawn shop scene the director captures an elderly man with a tired, lined face who is trying, without success, to pawn a pair of binoculars. His expressiveness makes the scene seem more real, squalid, and filled with pain, while also illustrating that the Ricci family are not alone in their poverty. Indeed, the upward panning shot that displays a towering pile of pawned sheets just like the set that Maria is exchanging for the bicycle, overwhelmingly shows the dread effect of unrestrained capitalism on the poor.To further show the damage caused by a social and governmental system that doesnt value human needs, De Sica characterizes the upper class as the true villains of the piece. This is seen very understandably while Antonio is fruitlessly searching the stalls filled with disassembled bicycle parts whil e a openhanded young man blows bubbles into the air, filled with self-satisfaction and utterly unaware of Antonios total terror. Symbolically, the bicycles can represent both(prenominal) the destruction of his ability to earn a living wage, and his own mental breakdown in having to represent the loss of such a vital mode of transportation.In this scene, also, a pedophile tries to lure Antonios son, Bruno, into his clutches. Although the scene is dwell with passerby, nobody pays any mind to the dangers faced by the vulnerable boy, let alone steps former to offer assistance. By showing the oblivion of the pigeonholing, De Sicoemphasizes the isolation of the individual, as well as demonstrating that no one, not even small children, are safe from the avaricious nature of the rich in a society where, as Burnett writes, the predators are the rich and disconnected (Burnett).The gripping conclusion of Bicycle Thieves further demonstrates how the need to secure employment in order to s urvive can cause honest people to behave in a dishonest manner. De Sico uses a shot of Antonio sitting outside of a football stadium, hungrily eyeing unconditioned parked bicycles a temptation that is akin to showing a starving man a dental plate of food. Through the directors use of close-up shots of Antonios pained expression, we experience his inner turmoil as morality fights with his baser needs.The climax occurs when he finally tries to steal a bicycle outside of an apartment building and is caught by a group of men who taunt and abuse while Bruno watches in horror. Cheshire writes that this point marks where Antonios solitary ordeal reaches a humiliatingly public climax (Cheshire), and indeed it is a fitting conclusion for a film that has taken place entirely in the public environment of Rome.By making use of the city streets as his set, and the citys population as his background cast, De Sico manages to show all of the missed opportunities where Antonios life could have be en changed for the better, were someone to have only taken an interest in his plight. As Bazin states in Neorealism and Pure Cinema The Bicycle Thieves, the thesis implied is wondrous and outrageously simple in the world where this workman lives, the poor must steal from each other in order to survive.But this thesis is never stated as such, it is just that events are so colligate together that they have the appearance of a formal truth while retaining an anecdotal quality (Bazin). In such a manner, the irony of Antonios predicament remains subtle, left for the viewer to determine based on their own experiences and observations. De Sicos film is most notable for what it avoids saying about the benefits of communism when held up against a corrupt, bloated style of capitalism that treats the working person as fodder for a greater machine.Rather than treat Bicycle Thieves as a propaganda device for his opinions, the director instead allows the audience to draw their own conclusions ba sed on the realistic information he has provided to them. But the implication of Antonios struggle is clear community support is vital for the individual to survive under difficult circumstances. Without a collective group from which to seek solace and assistance in times of trouble, the individual is left as aimless and panicked as Antonio during his solitary and unsuccessful enterprise to retrieve his stolen bicycle.Works Cited Bazin, Andre. Neorealism and Pure Cinema The Bicycle Thieves. Theory Kit. 21 October 2007. Web. 1 May 2011. Bicycle Thieves. Dir. Vittorio De Sica. Perf. Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell. Criterion, 2007. DVD. Burnett, Charles. Bicycle Thieves Ode to the Common Man. Criterion Film Essays. Criterion. 7 February 2007. Web. 1 May 2011. Cheshire, Godfrey. Bicycle Thieves A Passionate Commitment to the Real. Criterion Film Essays. Criterion. 7 February 2007. Web. 1