Read the full article on Firstpost, here: https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/bicycle-thieves-turns-70-a-look-at-neo-realism-through-the-prism-of-vittorio-de-sicas-classic-4823671.html
Bicycle Thieves, the Vittorio De Sica film that’s become a byword for neo-realism, turns 70 this year. The critic Megan Ratner (a contributing editor at Film Quarterly) wrote a terrific primer on the movement, explaining it from both a social and an aesthetic perspective – and it’s useful to revisit it before getting into Bicycle Thieves. The seeds of neo-realism were sown during the time Federico Fellini described thus: “For my generation, born in the 20s, movies were essentially American. American movies were more effective, more seductive. They really showed a paradise on earth…” This was hardly reflective of the lives of working-class Italians, and the single greatest influence on neo-realism was the anti-Fascism that marked the post-World War II period. As early as 1935, anti-Fascist journalist Leo Longanesi urged directors to “[step out of the studios and] go into the streets, into the barracks, into the train stations; only in this way can an Italian cinema be born.”
Ratner lists the following as some of the key elements of neo-realism: a docu-style emphasis on real lives, an entirely or largely non-professional cast, and a focus on the collective rather than the individual. Solidarity is important, along with an implicit criticism of the status quo. Plot and story come about organically from these episodes – like the stealing of the bicycle in Bicycle Thieves. Given that this is what the narrative motor is, you’d expect something Hollywood-style — say, a tensely crafted set piece, set to a background score that (a) makes you feel for the protagonist in poverty-stricken post-War Rome (he’s just gotten a job after years of waiting, and it’s a job that’s dependent on his having a bicycle), and (b) gets your pulse racing at the will-he-catch-the-thief? aspect of the chase.
Continued at the link above.
Copyright ©2018 Firstpost.
Vivek narain
July 26, 2018
The great roman empire that culminated with the decadent Caligula is lost for ever. The only realism that is apparent is the w*ps of Palermo who have wreaked so much havoc in US. The cat houses, the tables, the needles, the loan sharks infact all the clip joints belong to the shifty mobsters from south of the grand old empire. So much for realism.
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timsinabibek
July 26, 2018
I think you are absolutely right when you say that neo-realism didn’t shun drama. Just the events which occur in the character’s life are quite extraordinary. And that kid will carry the memory of his father stealing a bicycle for the rest of his life. That scene makes me emotional every time I watch it.
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tonks
July 29, 2018
I was moved by Bicycle thrives but this piece greatly increases my understanding of the movie, and explains why it is considered such a classic. Are there similar pieces anywhere in the blog about Indian neo realism movies? I guess most of Tagore would qualify.
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