THE BICYCLE THIEVES!

First of all, the movie is shot in Rome, and despite the post World War 2 ravaged conditions the city still shines out with its beautiful streets and quaint alleys, making you envy everyone living there. Rome really is so incredibly charming. However, the situation there is evidently quite disastrous with unemployment as a major issue. The Rome of that day was probably very different from the dazzling Rome we see and gush about today.

The movie focuses on a man called Antonio Ricci who is extremely hard up for money and is trying his utmost to keep his family, which comprises of his son and his wife going. He gets offered a job that needs a bicycle as part of the contract, but affording the bicycle is a problem. His wife offers to sell off all their sheets for him to afford a bicycle. Your heart really goes out to the family. It reminds you that even cities like Rome were at some point in time, at the brink of poverty. It makes you think that there is hope for India too. Everybody is of course overjoyed at the change events. However, the happiness is very short lived when we see Antonio Ricci’s bicycle getting stolen on his very first day at work. We feel his agony as he chases after the thief who seems to have been long gone.  We see the emptiness and sheer pain in his eyes as he watches the same bicycle his wife sold their sheets as dowry for, being taken from him. He is absolutely distraught and rushes to the police for their help. The police, very typically is not of much help and claim they have better things to do than go looking for a mere bicycle all across Rome. They leave it up to Antonio who then takes his son along with a few people and sets out to look for his lost bicycle. The bicycle may have just been one bicycle for the police; but it was so much more to Antonio Ricci. The bicycle was his job, his source of money and his family’s happiness. Despite the low chances of him finding his bicycle, he doesn't lose hope and give up. He can’t give up that easily now, can he? His son and his wife depend on him after all. What is also heart wrenching is we see his son, a boy of probably not more than 10 years going to work every day. That will probably be considered as child labour today.

As the movie progresses, we see how Antonio tries endlessly to find his bicycle, but unfortunately to no avail. At the beginning of the movie, we had seen Antonio mock his wife for visiting a seer when times were tough for them. We now see Antonio himself visiting a seer when he is utterly desperate to find his stolen bicycle. It shows us how desperation makes us do things we otherwise would never even consider doing.  All their ceaseless attempts at finding the bicycle seem to be failing. In the midst of the commotion, Antonio hears cries of a boy who is drowning and thinks it is his son. It turns out he was mistaken. He then takes his son to quite a posh restaurant where they leave behind all the pressing problems on their minds and enjoy a good meal and drinks. Who says it isn't okay to let go of all life's bloody nagging problems sometimes and just enjoy a drink?

Toward the end of the movie, there is quite a shocker that awaits us. Antonio spots a bicycle resting unattended and we see him contemplate stealing it, just the way his bicycle was stolen. We see him circling the area trying to make up his mind, making us sit up and wonder what he will eventually do. He decides to take the bicycle and just as he starts riding it, we see all hue and cry being raised and Antonio being closely chased by a few men. The men catch him as he tries to run, and we are heart broken to see his devastation. His son is left in tears as he silently watched his father steal a bicycle and then get caught. We see the depths of Antonio’s angst and desperation as he eventually succumbed to human weakness and tried stealing the bicycle. The sheer desperation and the trying times faced by poverty stricken Rome has been brilliantly depicted in the film by Vittorio De Sica , evoking so much emotion in us.  The film really is worth all the applause and praise it’s been given; so yes, if you haven't watched it already, do watch it! :)