BICYCLE THIEF (DVD) SUB/B&W/MONO/PCM/REG0 DVD

The Bicycle Thief
This landmark Italian neorealist drama became one of the best-known and most widely acclaimed European movies, including a special Academy Award as "most outstanding foreign film" seven years before that Oscar category existed. Written primarily by neorealist pioneer Cesare Zavattini and directed by Vittorio DeSica, also one of the movement's main forces, the movie featured all the hallmarks of the neorealist style: a simple story about the lives of ordinary people, outdoor shooting and lighting, non-actors mixed together with actors, and a focus on social problems in the aftermath of World War II. Lamberto Maggiorani plays Antonio, an unemployed man who finds a coveted job that requires a bicycle. When it is stolen on his first day of work, Antonio and his young son Bruno (Enzo Staiola) begin a frantic search, learning valuable lessons along the way. The movie focuses on both the relationship between the father and the son and the larger framework of poverty and unemployment in postwar Italy. As in such other classic films as Shoeshine (1946), Umberto D. (1952), and his late masterpiece The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1971), DeSica focuses on the ordinary details of ordinary lives as a way to dramatize wider social issues. As a result, The Bicycle Thief works as a sentimental study of a father and son, a historical document, a social statement, and a record of one of the century's most influential film movements. ~ Leo Charney, All Movie Guide

Cast Lamberto Maggiorani as Antonio Ricci Lianella Carell as Maria Ricci Enzo Staiola as Bruno Ricci Elena Altieri as The Lady Vittorio Antonucci as The Thief Gino Saltamerenda as Bajocco

Crew Antonio Traverso - Art Director Vittorio De Sica - Director Eraldo Da Roma - Editor Alessandro Cicognini - Composer (Music Score) Carlo Montuori - Cinematographer Vittorio De Sica - Producer Suso Cecchi D'Amico - Screenwriter O. Biancoli - Screenwriter Vittorio De Sica - Screenwriter Cesare Zavattini - Screenwriter Adolfo Franci - Screenwriter Luigi Bartolini - Book Author

The Bicycle Thief
Though not the first Italian Neo-Realist film seen outside of Italy (or even Vittorio De Sica's first Neo-Realist work), The Bicycle Thief (1948) is considered the seminal film of the movement, alongside Roberto Rossellini's Rome, Open City (1945). Following the guiding Neo-Realist precept of drawing stories from the daily life of post-war Italy, De Sica and writer Cesare Zavattini carefully interweave a wider view of Italian culture with a portrait of the bond between a father and son, revealing the impact of poverty and bureaucratic absurdities on one of many struggling families. Shooting on location with non-professional actors in the two leads (well-coached by actor De Sica), De Sica's mobile camera transforms moments of Antonio's odyssey into poetic images of isolation and despair, while never losing sight of the gritty hardships of quotidian experience. An even greater international sensation than his first Neo-Realist film (Shoeshine (1946)), The Bicycle Thief earned a special Oscar for Best Foreign Film and became a signature work for a movement that also included Bitter Rice (1948), Luchino Visconti's La Terra Trema (1948), and De Sica's Umberto D. (1952). Inspiring filmmakers across the world as an alternative to expensive Hollywood fantasy, The Bicycle Thief revealed the potential power of combining local concerns with an unflinching cinematic style. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
 

Cesare Zavattini: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Screenplay (nominated) Vittorio De Sica: National Board of Review, Best Director (winner)

British Academy of Film and Television, Best Film - Any Source (winner) Golden Globe, Best Foreign Film (winner) National Board of Review, Best Picture (winner) New York Film Critics Circle, Best Foreign Film (winner)

General Specifications: Language Options: English, Italian Subtitle Options: English Sound Processing: 5.1: 5 full-range channels. Includes 3 for the front speakers, 2 surround channels for rear speakers, & 1 low-frequency effects (LFE) channel to carry deep bass effects 1: PCM mono Additional Features: Original Italian dialogue soundtrack with English subtitles Dubbed English dialogue soundtrack Theatrical trailer (in English) MPAA Rating: NR DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 89 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1-- 0. Side #1-- 0. Chapter Scenes 1. Main Title; Getting a Job. [6:10] 2. Ricci's Transportation. [4:55] 3. The One Who Sees. [7:37] 4. The Bicycle Thief. [6:43] 5. Baiocco's Help. [4:30] 6. The search. [8:40] 7. Rain Men. [4:04] 8. "It's The Thief!". [5:30] 9. Mass Hysteria. [11:02] 10. Lunch Break. [5:05] 11. Back to the Seer. [4:20] 12. Face to Face. [11:01] 13. Desperate Measures. [8:12] 14. End Credits. [1:04]