Italian neorealism

Italian neorealism is a type of film that was made in Italy between 1944-1952. These films consist of post war Italy and the poverty stricken working class. The films focus on the conditions of the working class and the sate of Italy post World war two. The films were shot in real locations showing a realistic portrayal of Italy. Films like this before WW2 were banned as they were believed to show Italy in a negative way.  Most of the actors in these films were un-trained or amateur in order to give the films the realism they wanted to portray. The film the Bicycle thieves, its lead protagonist was a factory worker and the boy who played his son was a spotted when filming as he was selling flowers with his father. The film the bicycle thieves is one of the most well known and critically acclaimed Italian neorealism films, as it not only clearly shows the state of Italy and the struggles of the everyday man trying to support his family but it also clearly shows how everyone is struggling and how no ones issues are unique as the ending scene shows Antonio and his son walking away and fitting into a crowd of people in the same position as him.


The title of the film is bicycle thieves, thieves meaning more than one, as Antonio has his bike stolen by a thief, the first their and at the end Antonio himself steals a bike making him the second thief.
When Antonio is deciding to steal a bike the director leaves several minutes of him arguing with himself to show that stealing the bike is not an easy design but in order to be able to provide for his family he must do so, this is a key moment as it reflects the situation most people had to face in order to survive. He gets caught stealing the bike, which does not just create public humiliation for him but he is caught in front of his son, which is arguably a worse form of humiliation and he is confronted with the fear that he is unable to provide for his family which is common, and as Lamberto Maggiorani who plays Antonio the protagonist of the film, is not a trained actor so most of the acting done in this film was real, he has lived through similar situations as he is was factory worker when he was cast for this role. This is all post WW2 because the conditions of Italy were very poor, people from Italy desiccated that time as still being in a depression because not many people could get jobs or have enough money to feed and support their family. The ending of The bicycle thieves is not a happy ending, if it wasn't a Italian neorealism film and a hollywood or white phone film instead then the ending would be happy and Antonio would have found his bike and everything would have been alright but because it is an Italian neorealism film, which focus on the realistic truth behind the poverty stricken Italy. Antonio never found his bike because that was the realistic truth that work was hard and it was difficult supporting a family.