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The Bicycle Thieves

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  The first question that springs to mind when watching this film is, why does it have the title that it does?  It is called The Bicycle Thieves, and yet the central character is an ordinary family man who is the victim of these thieves. We hardly see the thieves at all, and know almost nothing about them.  And then, at the very end, it makes sense. We see that title is plural for a reason, and that poverty, deprivation and crime can turn victims into perpetrators.  Ricci is a picture of desperation, standing for a whole class of unemployed Italians who are lucky to get enough to eat each day. And he is driven to extremes by this desperation. His son, Bruno, is the unlikely hero of the film, innocent and incomprehending of the tragedy that is happening in his family.  In the tradition of Italian Neorealism, there isn't much hope at the end of the story. Ricci joins the mass of other Romans, lucky to still be free and able to wander the streets, but still desperate and poor. 
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Rome, Open City

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  Interesting video here on Italian neorealism and its historical context.  I can't say that I am a big fan of Italian Neorealism.  Fundamentally, it seems to be more about showing the dire situation of the Italian working classes than about plot or character. It has a message, and that message is quite uncompromising; life is hard, the bad guys win and there is no hope.  It is this hopelessness that makes Rome ; Open City such a difficult watch. There are some out-of-place moments of humour, especially involving the priest, but the story just gets more and more bleak, and the ending couldn't be darker.  Look, the film seems to be saying, there is no hope. It will not all work out, it is not going to be alright.  The irony is that, in reality, the Germans were finally defeated and were thrown out of Italy. Yet to watch this film, you would never think that. 
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The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari

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  This, for me, was a much more interesting film than Un Chien Andalou.  For one thing, it has a more or less cohesive narrative, which is a much more difficult thing to construct than a set of random, unconnected scenes and images.  Secondly, the sets and settings in this film are extraordinary; slanted, skewed, with zig zag patterns, people, buildings and objects at strange angles. All of this contributes to a sense of derangement and unbalance, which fits perfectly with the themes and the atmosphere.  In addition, the acting is incredibly expressive and communicative. The characters, though they don't speak, are portrayed fully and with complexity.  A unique experience, disturbing, creepy and fascinating. 
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Un Chien Andalou

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  Un Chien Andalou from amisgal on Vimeo . Surrealism kind of leaves me cold. The truth is that you can put anything you want in a surrealist film and claim that it has meaning or that it is an expression of your unconscious, though it may be just some random stuff that occurred to you in a daydream.  Un Chien Andalou has its moments, but it is largely a collection of randomness that must have been revolutionary at the time, but which is not that interesting now.  It did, however, inspire one of the great songs of the nineties.....
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