Bicycle Thieves (1948)

Essential Viewing

Italy

Feature Film

Original Title: Ladri di biciclette

Director: Vittorio De Sica

Writers: Oreste Biancoli, Suso D'Amico, Vittorio De Sica, Adolfo Franci, Gerardo Guerrieri, Cesare Zavattini, Luigi Bartolini

Cinematographer: Carlo Montuori

Composer: Alessandro Cicognini

Cast: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell, Gino Saltamerenda, Vittorio Antonucci, Giulio Chiari

Avoiding the sentimentality that often blighted his subsequent films, De Sica’s magnum opus – a delightfully simple tale about a man and his young son traversing the streets of Rome in search of a stolen bicycle, which is essential to their family’s survival – is a beautiful and moving exploration of the devastating effects of post-war privations on the dignity of ordinary people. Iain.Stott