| | | A Film by Vittorio De Sica.
Features: DVD
Hailed around the world as one of the greatest movies ever made, Vittorio De Sica's Academy Award-winning Bicycle Thieves defined an era in cinema. In postwar, poverty-stricken Rome, a man, hoping to support his desperate family with a new job, loses his bicycle and main means of transportation for work. With his wide-eyed young son in tow, he sets off to track down the thief. Simple in construction and dazzlingly rich in human insight, Bicycle Thieves embodies all the greatest strengths of the neorealist film movement in Italy: emotional clarity, social righteousness, and brutal honesty.
"...one of those wonderful titles whose power does not sink in until the film is over." Bob Graham, San Francisco Chronicle
"An official masterpiece!" Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"One of the ten greatest films ever made." Sight & Sound Filmmakers' Poll, 2002
Editor's Note
The recipient of international acclaim, Vittorio de Sica's Italian Neorealist masterwork, THE BICYCLE THIEF, is a treasure of world cinema. After nearly two years of unemployment, Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani) finally finds work posting bills. But he needs a bicycle to do the job. Unfortunately, he was forced to pawn his own bicycle long ago. In a humbling, tragic scene, Antonio exchanges his family's linen for his bicycle. But when the bike is stolen on his first day of work, he must comb the streets of Rome in search of the bike: his family's only means to survival. After three days of hunting, Antonio and his son, Bruno (Enzo Staiola), find the thief (Vittorio Antonucci)--but without witnesses or evidence, the police are unwilling to help Antonio. Hopeless, Antonio and Bruno wander aimlessly through Rome, landing outside of a soccer stadium where hundreds of bicycles are parked. His will broken, Antonio attempts to steal a bike but is caught in the act.Thematically, Vittoria de Sica's THE BICYCLE THIEF details an everyman story of loss of innocence in the face of a destitute society, while the film's poignant acting and directing creates an individual and heart-wrenching tale of one man's struggle to feed his family. The film is often considered one of the masterpieces of 20th century cinema.
| Features | Audio: Italian, English Dolby Digital Mono | | Booklet Featuring New Essays, Remembrances & Classic Writings | | Documentary On Screenwriter Cesare Zavattini | | Dubbed: English | | Featurettes: Working With De Sica - A New Collection Of Interviews, & Life As It Is - A New Program On Italian Neorealist Cinema | | Interactive Menus | | New, Restored High-Definition Digital Transfer | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English |
| Entertainment Reviews
 | Bicycle Thieves - DVD By: Chris Cabin - filmcritic.com DVD Reviews Published on: 2/8/2007 12:34 AM | |
Few films have had their titles put under such intense scrutiny as Vittorio De Sica's 1948 neo-realist masterpiece. Originally, the translated title was simply The Bicycle Thief, referencing the perpetrator of the film's titular crime. However, later digging and arbitration led to it being called The Bicycle Thieves or just Bicycle Thieves, which references more to the fact the social realism, poverty and desperation that most of the men in Italy felt at the time. Ostensibly, it meant that we are all bicycle thieves, and we are all capable of doing heartless things to maintain one's own way of life....read the full review |
| Technical Info
|
Release Information
| | Studio: Image |
| Release Date: 2/13/2007 |
| Running Time: 89 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1948 | | Catalog ID: 1681 | | UPC: 00715515022224 | | Number of Discs: 2 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: Italian | | Available Audio Tracks: English Dubbed, Italian | | Available Subtitles: English | | Video: B&W |
Aspect Ratio | | Standard 1.33:1 [4:3] |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Winner (1950) | | | British Academy Awards, Bicycle Thieves, Best Film from any Source | | | Golden Globe, Bicycle Thieves, Best Foreign Film | | | Oscar, Bicycle Thieves, Honorary Award | |
Nominee (1950) | | | Oscar, Cesare Zavattini, Best Writing, Screenplay |
|
| | Professional Reviews | Entertainment Weekly
"...One of the most heart-rending films ever..." -- Rating: A 04/26/1996 p.69Los Angeles Times
"...Elegantly structured....Integral to its grace and mood are Carlo Montuori's superb, supple camera work and Alessandro Cicognini's mesmerizing score..." 02/05/1999 p.F4 Los Angeles Times
"...De Sica, following in the neo-realist style, used natural lighting throughout, giving THE BICYCLE THIEF an effective, documentary-like look that many other filmmakers tried to emulate..." 10/04/1991 p.F28 Chicago Sun-Times
"...It is still alive and has strength and freshness....It is a simple, powerful film..." 03/19/1999 p.31 Premiere
"...It's a heartbreaker -- the crowning achievement of Italian neorealism..." 12/01/2003 p.5 Sight and Sound
"De Sica portrays Antonio's quest to rediscover his bike with such urgency that the film takes on an epic quality." 05/01/2006 p.86-87 eFilmCritic.com 10 of 10
Okay, so I think calling this "The greatest film of all time" may be a bit too much, but it really is a great film. So damn sad! My wife was ready to break down sobbing and I was frightfully close as well by the time "Fine" came on the screen...I'm sure artists, film makers, critics (real ones), etc. will say things like "the most important film of the modern post-war blah blah blah". I'm just a member of the audience, and don't have the saw-fist-y-cay-sion to understand how "The Bicycle Thief" fits into the history of film and how influencial it was, but I do know this is a great film, not to be missed...I suppose one could say this is the "Citizen Kane" of Italian cinema, but then, I wouldn't know since I'm a dumb member of the audience and have no idea what the Italian cinema is.
DVD Times 9 of 10
More than fifty years since it was first released Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves now stands as a cultural icon. Regularly parodied and paid homage to - in everything from Maurizio Nichetti's The Icicle Thief to Alexei Sayle's Didn't You Kill My Brother? - the film has become familiar to such a degree that those few cinephiles yet to experience it will no doubt be able to recount its narrative in its entirety: the tale of Antonio, the poor jobless husband and father who need a bicycle to gain employment, yet upon obtaining one has it stolen on the his day ay work. It's this simplicity of storytelling, at times akin to that of a fable or parable, which perhaps explains the film's enduring popularity. - Anthony Nield
|
| |
|
|
__USERID__
http://www.buy.com/prod/bicycle-thieves-criterion-collection/q/loc/322/203518472.html
|
