The Bicycle Thief / Bicycle Thieves (Ladri Di Biciclette) (1948) (Italy)

This is a fine example of mastery over simplicity and expressions. Applauded all over the world for its content and execution, you may find the movie very simple and straight. But I would like to suggest you two different ways to watch this movie if you still haven’t seen it. The story is about a person who needs a bicycle as a requisite to get a job. After he acquires it, giving away some of his belongings, he finds his bicycle has been stolen on the very first day of his job. Now the rest of the film is about how he goes on searching for his lost bicycle along with his 8-10 years old son. The hidden message of the movie is to see the journey of their search through the eyes of the child.

The director beautifully shows how a small child is totally dependent on his parents and completely helpless in situations out of his control. You can feel the pain and uneasiness experienced by the child as he witnesses his father doing different things to find his lost bicycle. Just see the movie keeping in mind the child and you will surely find new angles of expressions filmed brilliantly. The movie received an Honorary Oscar Award for its excellence and Indian master film-maker Satyajit Ray quoted this film as an influence on his choice of becoming a director.

If you have seen Bimal Roy’s “Do Bigha Zameen” then I would like to add that Bimal Roy also must have had “The Bicycle Thief” at the back of his mind while making the much appreciated Indian Classic. The main difference between the two is that “Do Bigha Zameen” goes too melodramatic and sentimental in its approach whereas the Italian Classic says it all without going over the top. Here lies the beauty of it which makes it better than the Bimal Roy’s movie. And this is the reason why I didn’t include “Do Bigha Zameen” in my must see movies list.

However while watching “The Bicycle Thief”, there was only one person in my mind who could play the lead if it was made in Hindi, and he was the highly respected “Mr. Balraj Sahni”. He was the only person who could have expressed the suffering of the bicycle owner in the right way, because he always thought through his heart and knew how to act without acting. So another way of watching “The Bicycle Thief” is thinking “Balraj Sahni” as the lead hero. That will again double your pleasure watching “The Bicycle Thief”. Go For It!

Directed By Vittorio De Sica