Essay over the Bicycle Thief

"The Bicycle Thief" is a deeply moving neo-realist study of post-War

Italy which depicts one man's loss of faith and his struggle to maintain

personal dignity in poverty and bureaucratic indifference. Antonio Ricci is a

bill-poster whose bicycle, essential for his job, is stolen by a thief. Joined

by his son Bruno, Antonio vainly searches for his bike, eventually resorting to

the humiliation of theft himself. Throughout this paper, I will attempt to

trace the character through "The Bicycle Thief." The film opens with a montage

of early morning urban activities ending on a crowd of unemployed laborers

clamoring for work. Sitting to the side is Antonio Ricci. Beaten down by

despair, he has lost the energy to fight. His spirits are lifted, however,

when his name is called out for a job. Invigorated, he damns poverty. His joy

however, is fleeting, employment depends on one condition -- that he owns

a bicycle. To provide for his family, Antonio long ago pawned his bicycle

and now...

... middle of paper ...

...ere, in India or abroad. Ray

heterogeneity within local communities. This perception contrasts sharply with

the tendency of many communitarians, religious and secular, who are willing to

break up the nation into communities and then stop dead there: "Thus far and no

further." The great film maker's eagerness to seek the larger unit - - to talk

to the whole world - - went well with his enthusiasm for understanding the

smallest of the small, i.e. the individuality, ultimately, of each