“In 1944, everything was
destroyed in Italy. The film, and everything else.”
-
Roberto
Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini one of the first neo-realist
filmmakers, described (in Liehm, 1984: 60) 1944 as a year in Italy when there
was simply nothing left. This pessimistic view, however, carried Italy’s film
industry to new heights after the fall of fascist leader Benito Mussolini. In
this essay I will analyse the final ten minutes of Vittorio De Sica’s The Bicycle Thieves (1948) as part of
showing how society in post-World War II Italy was represented. I find this
extract to be an exemplary example of neo-realist filmmaking, inhabiting the
main themes of the film. As the film takes place during a time in history when
Italy was under reconstruction from the war, I find it necessary to bring a
brief introductory to the 1940s and how it affected the Italian film industry.
I will uncover the reasons why filmmakers such as De Sica chose to make their
films in the manner that was coined as neo-realism before further moving into
my analysis of The Bicycle Thieves. In
my analysis I will focus on the character of Bruno Ricci (Enzo Staiola) and how
his maturity further divulges a masculinity crisis in the character of Antonio
Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani) and the post-war Italian male. I will also pay
attention to the symbolism portrayed in the final ten minutes of the film, as
it plays an essential role in portraying various elements of Italian society in
the late 1940s.
Italian neo-realism emerged after the end of Mussolini
and Italy’s fascist government. This time in Italy’s history, Ventennio, or twenty years of fascist
rule from 1922 to 1943 saw a natural reemergence in Italian cinema. “The “neo”
in neo-realism was not actually anything new, but rather marked a continuation
and an evolution of the Italian motion picture industry.” (Ruberto &
Wilson, 2007: 6) This near decade of filmmaking from 1943 to 1952 saw Italy
gain supreme recognition from all over the globe. The films of the time did not
serve as an uplifting message to the people of Italy, but instead to “stir up
emotions or indignation” (Overbey 67-68 cited in Ruberto & Wilson: 7). Cahiers du Cinema critic André Bazin
went to describe neo-realist films as “one of the first examples of pure
cinema.” (Liehm: 76) The authenticity behind these films was essential, as it
became a new way to document the everyday lives and struggles of il popolo – working-class people – in a
way never seen before. It also served as a critique towards the slow
development of post-World War II Italy. The Nazis still occupied parts of Italy
in the early 1940s and by 1948 unemployment was 22 percent. The films
represented reality as it was, casting non-professional regular people in the
films. Many directors including Rossellini and De Sica shared this vision. The
““hunger for reality” gave birth to a style that became, as much as a deep
moral commitment, the unifying agent of the movement.” (ibid.: 71) Instead of
being a genre of its own, it was a social movement started by such people as
Rossellini, Aldo Vergano, and Alfredo Guarini among others from the Socialist
Party, the Communist Party, the Party of Action and the Movement of Communist
Catholics. The Italian film industry without the film-makers willing to fight
for their liberty to create films had no future. But no longer under a fascist
government these individuals went literally “into the streets”. De Sica went so
far as to finance The Bicycle Thieves
on his own with help from Italian businessmen as no professional distributor
could be found. The collaboration between De Sica and screenwriter Cesare
Zavattini produced four Academy Awards for best foreign film, including one for
The Bicycle Thieves. Zavattini
believed that “there must be no gap between life and what is on the screen” (ibid.:
91) and the vision the duo shared was reflected best through The Bicycle Thieves. The characters of
Antonio and Bruno were both played by unprofessional actors discovered by De
Sica. Not only was the film an honest portrayal of the relationship between the
working-class father and son, but a “chronicle of a precise time period and set
of social circumstances.” (ibid.: 77) The success of The Bicycle Thieves proved that the Italian film industry was very
much alive and the themes upon which I will discuss a product of its
environment.
The final scene of the film follows from the moment
when Antonio is taunted by a mob of people in Via Panico after failing to
retain his bicycle from the thief. This moment in time is when the film reaches
its immoral pinnacle that differs from the typical Hollywood ending. Antonio
himself resorts to desperate measures by attempting to steal a bicycle, but is
chased down by the people in the street. Antonio is let off the hook much due
to the fact that Bruno is beside him begging for them to let his father go.
While Antonio is not convicted, the humiliation and embarrassment is
unbearable. Only through Bruno’s actions of grabbing his father’s hand is some
sort of humanity retained; the depression has managed to turn even the finest
men into thieves. Kaja Silverman described the post-war male as having a
masculine crisis where “marginal males, men who were compelled – in the wake of
the war and the social crises surrounding it – to embrace lack and inadequacy.”
(Ruberto & Wilson: 28) According to her, there was a certain ‘lack’ in the
male which after the war saw the role of the male fail as household provider. I
very much agree that this ‘lack’ can be seen through Bruno, who more resembles
a small man rather than a child. Up until this point in the film, Bruno acts on
his own as if he could get on fine without his father and eventually being the
one who rescues Antonio from being convicted. I can be argued that “the
presence of the child highlights the limits of the male” (ibid.: 33), which
seemed to be a recurring theme in Italian neo-realism. The lack of job
opportunities seems to have completely disheartened Antonio and the failure to
act as a role-model and provider for his son is only further acknowledged by
Bruno’s strong character. He follows his father wherever he goes despite
Antonio’s lack of acknowledgement; for instance in the scene Bruno dodges two
cars when crossing the road and Antonio does not even notice. Bruno is also the
employed character in the family. Antonio cannot bare to even look at Bruno and
it is Bruno himself who offers his hand in understanding and forgiveness. I
would agree to Carlo Celli’s argument that “De Sica’s thematic emphasis on
children, the weakest members of society, reads like a reaction to the defeats
of the macho culture espoused by the fascist regime.” (Bertellini, 2004: 48-49)
While the war had torn a nation apart with Mussolini in charge, a new mentality
was needed that took a step away from fascist governing ways to secure a
healthy nation with Bruno playing an optimistic example of the future of Italy.
The bicycle itself represents its own symbolism. In
the scene, the streets are crowded with an array of bicycles belonging to
working-class citizens. The bicycle itself can be seen as a symbol for the
working-class. In the age where the average Italian could not afford an
automobile, public transportation and the bicycle was highly regarded in
everyday lives. The apparent trust in the good will of il popolo (and perhaps the invention of the bike-lock not yet on
the market), saw bicycles quite literally ‘there for the taking’. While Antonio
chooses not to steal a bicycle that is in the lot belonging to the supporter’s
of the football game, he chooses to take the one located in an open area away
from the masses. This scene perhaps represents Antonio himself and the isolates
him from the rest of the people. What he does is clearly an act of desperation
and a criminal act, a factor which separates him from everyone else. He has
become what he hates the most – the same person that stole his bicycle. The
brand of the bicycle itself, Fide –
meaning faith or trust – symbolises the
Roman-Catholic beliefs of the people. The story is also set during a Sunday
afternoon, an obvious symbol of a day meant to be dedicated to worship and
mass. Instead of following the ways of a good Christian, Antonio does the
opposite. When he is caught “one
of Antonio’s captors admonishes him in the last line of the film ‘Può
ringraziare Dio’ (‘You can thank God’).” (ibid.: 47) The fact that he chooses
to commit his crime during the day further concedes his desperation. The act of
mercy perhaps reflects compassion for the working-class and a need to work
together despite living during the Depression. It may even be said that Antonio
not being arrested is a bigger tragedy, as he now will have to face the
consequences of returning back to his home without a job and as a thief in his
son’s eyes. The melodramatic music played throughout the beginning of the scene
draws upon Antonio’s feelings – he is emotionally distraught. As it progresses,
however, it becomes more intense, something untypical one would expect during a
Sunday afternoon within a crowd of people. When Antonio is seized, it once
again turns to a melodramatic tone, characterizing the bitter disappointment
and failure of Antonio.
To conclude, while the film was accepted globally as a
masterpiece, it was not taken lightly by the Italian government. As neo-realist
films openly depicted the ‘naked truth’ of the conditions in Italy, it was seen
as an embarrassment by the upper-class. It was the certain pessimism of modern
times shown by De Sica and Zavattini that ultimately also found enemies on the
Christian Democratic right. “Neorealist films were blamed for “washing dirty
linen in public” and for “slandering Italy abroad.”” (Ruberto & Wilson: 66)
Censorship laws – or La Legge Andreotti – against neo-realist
films helped aid its demise in the following decade. The extract I have
discussed illustrates the social and economic pressures everyday people were
dealing with. The storyline is simple, but with craft it represents the
importance of the bicycle, not only to Antonio, but to the working-class man.
The job of hanging movie posters is far from glamorous, but the pride in having
a job that supports ones family cannot be stressed enough. The film does not
end on an optimistic note, but the moral lessons taught perhaps acknowledge the
message of the film better this way. Antonio and Bruno get lost in the masses
to return to their daily lives (quite literally as well seeing that they were
non-professionals), just as all the others, but standing by each other united
once more waiting for the next opportunity.
Bibliography
Bertellini, G.
(ed.) (2004) The Cinema of Italy. London:
Wallflower
Liehm, M. (1984)
Passion and Defiance: Film in Italy from
1942 to the Present. Berkeley;
London: University of California Press
Wilson, K.M.
& Ruberto, L.E. (ed.) (2007) Italian
Neorealism and Global Cinema. Detroit: Wayne State University Press
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