Saturday 29 January 2011

A-Z #22: The Bicycle Thieves

You can pick up hundreds of DVD's for a buck each - it doesn't matter. Its never about quantity, its about quality. A-Z is my way of going through my collection, from A-Z, and justifying why I own the films...




#22 - The Bicycle Thieves 

Why did I buy it?

Again, this was an 'important' film. A film that started the neo-realism movement in Italy. I can't tell you how many 'lists' this film has come up on as a film everyone must see. Outside of this film, I wouldn't know any other Italian Neo-Realists but this would inevitably be a starting point...
Why do I still own it?

Because, ultimately, I do love realist cinema - Shane Meadows movies This is England and Dead Mans Shoes, Blue Valentine (recently) - these films are all about exploring whats real. The Bicycle Thieves show, bit-by-bit, how a decent, hard-working man eventually cracks. Its not shown in a huge, explosive manner, just a subtle exploration of how people try and do so much but if they are beaten down, eventually they cave.

It is restrained and it has a profound message - an incredible starting point to a style of cinema that has become a staple of indie-cinema.   

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