Bicycle Thieves

Ladri di biciclette

Italy, 1948

Drama

Synopsis

In the depressed post-WWII economy of Italy, a desperate but hopeful family man is on his first day of a new job, when his bicycle, essential to do the work, is stolen. With his wide-eyed son in tow, he sets off to track down the thief. A landmark in the Italian neorealist movement.

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Bicycle Thieves Directed by Vittorio De Sica

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Awards & Festivals

Cannes Film Festival

2018 | Cannes Classics

Academy Awards

1950 | Winner: Honorary Award

1950 | Nominee: Best Writing, Screenplay

Locarno International Film Festival

1949 | Winner: Special Prize of the Jury

San Sebastián International Film Festival

2018 | Klasikoa

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Cast & Crew

Articles from the Notebook

Movie Poster of the Week: Rita Hayworth and The Bicycle Thieves

Behind the poster within the picture, and Vittorio De Sica’s directorial career in movie posters.

Movie Poster of the Week: “The Holy Man”

On top of his many accomplishments, Satyajit Ray was also a graphic designer who designed many of his own film posters.

Critics reviews

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At nearly every turn, De Sica asks the viewer to consider the nature of theft and to what extent an individual could become a complicit component of systemic thievery. Ultimately, the thefts referenced in the film’s title prove to be not just a description, but also a confession, since the film’s ultimate thief is De Sica himself, who dangles the prospect of the bicycle’s recovery just beyond Antonio’s grasp, almost to the point of cruelty.

Clayton Dillard

March 30, 2016

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Bicycle Thieves wasn’t even that “neo-real,” being a studio film that used back projection and employed a number of supporting-role pros. But it remains one of art film’s most powerful gateway drugs, still haunting in its painful simplicity, laced with the unforgettable behavioral moments that may be De Sica’s greatest claim to posterity.

Michael Atkinson

September 08, 2015

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Revealing the catastrophic impact of seemingly minor events on people who are struggling to subsist, De Sica endows slender side business and incidental pictorial details with high suspense and tragic grandeur. With a keen succession of tracking shots amid crowds at a market and a church, he transforms the sheer scale of the city and the vast number of residents in similarly desperate straits into a symphonic lament for the human condition.

Richard Brody

September 07, 2015

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What are people saying?

Duncan Gray's rating of the film Bicycle Thieves
Duncan Gray

I can't deny the masterful potency of Bicycle Thieves, its moral clarity and the way that, although it's arthouse by default today, it could play to a crowd in '48. Part of my skepticism toward Italian neorealism has to do with its legacy, and the way so many modern festival pretenders gild the lily with over-the-top plot contrivances. De Sica's original knows that simple and mundane can have great emotional power.
January 24, 2019 18:33
- 9
- 0
Ethan's rating of the film Bicycle Thieves
Ethan

One of the best films to come out of the neo realist movement and the greatest of De Sica's career. He came close later in his career but he never quite matched the humanity that he captured in this film.
January 24, 2019 18:19
- 5
- 0
Stian Gledje Bekkvik's rating of the film Bicycle Thieves
Stian Gledje Bekkvik

Sometimes I forget about the cameras ability to look straight past exteriors, open up chests and expose hearts.
November 04, 2015 21:00
- 4
- 0
Nick's rating of the film Bicycle Thieves
Nick

A searing portrayal of economic depression in post-Mussolini Italy which is perhaps just as relevant today considering the levels of poverty worldwide. An obvious masterpiece but the final scene is almost too devastating to bear. Keep your eye on the child.
January 24, 2019 18:08
- 4
- 0
Al Green's rating of the film Bicycle Thieves
Al Green

A masterpiece of cinema and one of those films that speaks of the human condition and way beyond it's simple subject matter. The boy's performance is the finest I've seen by any child actor.
January 24, 2019 18:07
- 4
- 0
El Biffo's rating of the film Bicycle Thieves
El Biffo

A perfect film.
February 18, 2014 17:54
- 9
- 0
nvtsrmr's rating of the film Bicycle Thieves
nvtsrmr

I was surprised when I knew that the actor wasn't really an actor (before this) because that was one of the most realistic performances every actor had ever done. And the kid, Bruno, I don't know, I can't describe it. I couldn't hold my tears at the last minutes, it was so moving. One of the best film no doubt, a masterpiece of cinema history.
January 24, 2019 17:06
- 7
- 0
Harry Rossi's rating of the film Bicycle Thieves
Harry Rossi

The only movie that could bring tears to my eyes just by thinking about it. If there was a list of the only ten perfect movies ever made, this would be on it.
January 24, 2019 16:03
- 5
- 0