MOVIE REVIEW : ‘Bicycle Thief ‘: Testament Against Fascism

IRVINE —  Vittorio De Sica’s “The Bicycle Thief,” screening tonight as the first offering in UC Irvine’s “Eclectic Flicks” series, takes us on an odyssey through the back streets of Rome as a poor laborer and his young son try to find their stolen bike.

That central experience may seem as mundane as a trip to the supermarket, but De Sica turns the commonplace into revelation. Perhaps the most admired film to emerge from Italy’s post-war era, “The Bicycle Thief” registers as a testament to a country left barren in the aftermath of Fascism and World War II.

Along with Luchino Visconti’s “Obsession” (1942) and Roberto Rossellini’s “Rome, Open City” (1945), this 1949 release is credited with solidifying Italy’s neo-realist movement, a cinematic reaction to the studio-made and government-controlled products of the 1930s. In defying the past, the neo-realists were looking for grit, truth and poetry.

A demanding goal, but one that De Sica was able to meet by stripping his film to the essentials. Everything is understated and almost anti-reflective; because “The Bicycle Thief” refuses to be pushy, you tend to search out your own connection to the events at hand and come up with interpretations both simple and resonant.

The naturalistic tone is set immediately. De Sica opens with a stark, almost painfully bright scene of unemployed laborers clamoring for work in front of a government office. Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani) has been on the edge of poverty for a long time and momentarily forgets his cynicism when offered a job raising posters advertising a Rita Hayworth movie.

There’s a catch, though. He needs a bicycle to get to the sites around town, but has pawned his own for food money. Faced with losing the job, his wife (Lianella Carrell) sells her dowry (six pairs of bed sheets) so that Antonio can redeem the pawn ticket.

While working the next day, Antonio’s bike is stolen and, with his son Bruno (Enzo Staiola) at his side, he begins a three-day quest that takes them from a church to a bordello to a soothsayer’s home to a dangerous confrontation in the thief’s neighborhood. As Antonio’s frustration escalates, and Bruno’s confusion with his father’s actions grows, the world around them gets harder and less stable.

De Sica was often asked to explain his orientation for “The Bicycle Thief,” and he invariably said his ambition was more lyrical than political. That’s evident in the way he handled his actors, almost all of whom were non-professionals. (Maggiorani, for instance, was an out-of-work steelworker when De Sica cast him). The performances are unaffected; it’s like they’re responding honestly to a request to portray their own lives.

But the movie never strays far from the political, regardless of De Sica’s original intent. Cast against the economic and spiritual depression faced by Italy following the war, “The Bicycle Thief” can be read as a condemnation of all that led to the demeaning environment Antonio and his family must live in. It’s subtly but clearly anti-Fascist.

Beyond that, the film is intriguing for other reasons. Technically, De Sica, following in the neo-realist style, used natural lighting throughout, giving “The Bicycle Thief” an effective, documentary-like look that many other filmmakers tried to emulate.

It’s also interesting to note the ruckus that followed its first release in the United States. Reactionary censors kept it out of theaters by making much noise about the scenes involving prostitutes and Bruno’s boyish, but hardly graphic, attempt to urinate on a wall. Clearer heads ultimately prevailed, though, and “The Bicycle Thief” went on to win the 1949 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

Vittorio De Sica’s “The Bicycle Thief” will screen at 7 and 9 tonight at UC Irvine’s Crystal Cove Auditorium in the Student Center. Tickets: $2 to $4. Information: (714) 856-6379.

The UCI Film Society’s “Eclectic Flicks” will continue with:

Oct. 11: “Entre Nous” by Diane Kurys (1983).

Oct. 18: “Los Olvidados” by Luis Bunuel (1950).

Oct. 25: “Knife in the Water” by Roman Polanski (1962).

Nov. 1: “Street of Shame” by Kenji Mizoguchi (1956).

Nov. 8: “Sugarbaby” by Percy Adlon (1985).

Nov. 15: “Sugar Cane Alley” by Euzhan Palcy (1984).

Nov. 22: “Umberto D” by Vittorio De Sica (1952).

Dec. 6: “Smiles of a Summer Night” by Ingmar Bergman (1955).

All films will be shown in the Crystal Cove Auditorium in the UCI Student Center. Tickets: $2 to $4. Information: (714) 856-6379.