The Bicycle Thief: The Neorealism Movement

In the years 1939 to 1945, one of the most widespread and deadliest war in history occurred, World War Two. World War Two occurred because Poland was attacked by Germany. Word War Two left many European countries destroyed in terms of morality and physically. Destruction was seen everywhere starting from building, to economic system and political systems. Italy was not the exception. Italy was left with economic and social problems. Due to this problem it started to distress these issues through film. Indeed, Italy reaction of World War Two could be considered as both a negative and positive reaction.
Italy reaction to World War Two was positive and negative because, in terms of film a new movement was introduced, but its content criticizes
One example is the neorealism movement. The neorealism movement was a movement that was focused on telling story from the poor working class and how they faced social issues. For instance, The Bicycle Thief a movie which tells a story about a man named Antonio (played by Lambert Maggiorani), who supports his family by putting up posters around Rome. One day Antonio’s needs to keep his business going and his bicycle is stolen while he works. He decides to go over the city to find his bicycle .Unfortunately, he ends up in part of a city where the black market controls the area. Antonio decides to steal a bicycle but is almost immediately caught. The owner does not press charges on Antonio, but Antonio is left with the quilt and feeling of being a thief. The bicycle thief is a perfect example of neorealism; it demonstrates us that people will do anything to keep their family in stability. As well, it shows that Italy was going through a time period were conformity was a big issue and the working class faced the harsh consequences. This was a positive effect because new genres were introduced in the world of film. Similarly, the truth was being told. On the other hand, it had a negative effect because it was causing the country to get into more conflict then what they already had. The conflict was the country now had to restrict certain types of movies. In other words, propaganda was positive effects in terms of bringing a
For example, the film Ossessione (Obsession) in 1943, directed by Luchino Visconti. Obsession is a film “with its dark and brooding vision of human existence, and focused in Mussolini’s war machine.”(Wheeler Winston). Due to the film having some”, sex and a homoerotic subtext it did not find favor with Italy’s fascist authorities” (Tony D’Ambra). Meaning Italian fascist didn’t approve reality to be portrayed in film, but most of all inappropriate themes that were presented to the public. The resistance was that many Italians fascist didn’t want its citizen to know what occurred in society, they believed they would control it not film directors. Another movie that was restricted was Open City. The movie was shot for the most part in the streets, apartments, garages, and cellars of Rome. The film ushered in the golden age of Neorealism, in which the cinema reflected the concerns of citizen daily life. Neorealist cinema, such as Open City and Obsession were rejected from Hollywood studio system and the production because it did not follow the traditional genre and exposed realty, thing Hollywood didn’t want. In other words, restriction was made due to the belief of neorealism, it portrays reality, and it did not portray