Originally written March 16, 2012; heavily revised February 2, 2020

This review will contain pieces of my original review for Bicycle Thieves, but I’m a bit unsatisfied with it, so I’m revising it. I originally had to watch Bicycle Thieves for a cinema appreciation class in college. It was the only foreign film we watched, being completely in Italian. I used to watch subbed anime when I was younger, so reading subtitles never really bothered me for movies. This is the first barrier some people might have with watching the movie, and another being that it’s a black-and-white movie before 1950. I do think it’s worth watching if you’re looking to watch the old classics, as the movie has gone down as one of the greatest films of all time for many people. I don’t quite hold it in that high of a regard, but it’s a good movie nonetheless.

Basically it’s a movie about a struggling family, and the father is about to get a job. The only problem is that he’s required to have a bike, or else he won’t get the job. So, the family sells some of the only stuff they have to get money to buy the bike. Not too long after buying the bike, one day while the man is on the job, some thieves come and steal his bike. So the man and his son go on a city-wide search for the lost bicycle so that he’ll be able to keep his job and provide for his family. It’s intended to be a snapshot of post-World War II Italy, showing how tough it was to find work at the time. It’s a touching story where you just want this guy to find his bike.

Honestly, this is a pretty simple movie, so I don’t have a ton to say about it. It’s a very simple and straightforward plot, so I don’t need to go too far into it. I think where the movie excels is showing how terrible poverty is, and how it can affect someone and send them into a spiral. There is a lot to talk about with this, and so thematically the movie is really strong. The “adventure” of the movie isn’t always that exciting, though, and so I think this is where the movie suffers. The whole story really is about this guy trying to find his bike, and so while the beginning and ending are fantastic, there are moments in the middle where it drags a bit. It isn’t too terrible, but there were definitely some scenes that felt way too long, and so it felt like things were stretched out in a movie that’s already under 90 minutes.

Overall, though, I really enjoy this one, and feel as positively on it on my second viewing. I thought it was different from the norm, and has a lot going for it. Speaking of, I should just briefly mention that the performances here are great, especially from the child in the movie. This isn’t one of those movies that’s extremely memorable, and it does drag in spots, but it’s also short, has a strong central theme, and has a relatively simple premise that’s easy to get behind. I understand a lot of people don’t seek out pre-1950s black-and-white foreign films, but this one has gone down as one of the all-time classics, and so if you seek out classics then you should give it a shot.

4/5