The Bicycle Thieves

 

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.