The Italian Neorealism in the film Bicycle Thieves

Bicycle Thieves, the film directed by Vittorio de Sica, represents the essence of the Italian Neorealism, which can be dated back to the post-war period after the World War-II. The Italian Neorealism, as its name denotes, lies in reproducing the real life of people in the society in a straight-forward way, especially the miserable abyss of the underclass.

The idea of realism and the overall aesthetic penetrates throughout the production of the films of the Italian Neorealism, this film is of no exception. The idea of the Italian Neorealism shows it self in the following aspects:Real shot is employed. All the scenes in the film are shot in the real environment instead of the indoor setting built by the crew. Thus, the living environment of the underclass is well represented in a plain way. Audience will be shocked by the toughness of the life of the protagonists immediately and some familiar scenes will undoubtedly arose the emotional resonance of the audience, and then the capture of the feelings, conditions and struggles of the poor people will be guaranteed.

The skillful use of the long cinema scene and repeated shooting. Long cinema scene avoids the excess polishing by men, and the scene is followed with the action of the father without too much clipping, which enhances the realism of the film. In the film, the repeated shooting is used when the father wonders whether he should steal a bike, his hesitation and inner conflict are produced brilliantly, the audience will get the message and experience the struggle of the father, the representative of the common family, by themselves.

The unprofessional actor is employed as the protagonist. The father in the film is actually a normal person who loses his job in the post war period. The actor is not acting, he is, to some extent, living as he was used to. What he thinks, what he sees and what he says in daily life are re-presented truly enough. He is one of the jobless people who live in the abyss of the misery, and fights for his own future in the endless darkness. His yell for equality and bright future will be captured by the audience without effort for he is a common person living in poverty and the cruelty just like the audience themselves, instead of the actors or actress the audience can’t access. What’s more, the contradiction, the misfortune of the actor can be better performed and can better represent the common family’s life for the actor himself is from the common family and he knows what should be presented.

The linear and loose structure. The film begins with a jobless father who eventually gets a job and uses almost all he has to get back his bike, but the bike is stolen the other day, so he decides to steal a bike to live on, however, he fails and is beaten by others. The plain narrative pattern and the logical relationship between the incidents promotes the development of the plot naturally, though being lack of the intense contradiction and sudden turn, the film reveals the realism and the suffering of the seemingly plain life. The plainness, which resembles most people’s life, can make them find their own shadows in the film, so they will cry when the father is beaten, they will hesitate when the father is suffering from the contradiction, they will be pleased when the father first gains a job. They will be totally absorbed in the struggling the feelings of the common people with the help of the realism.