Bicycle Thief (1): Overall Messages
The film, Bicycle Thief, which was directed by Vittorio De Sica, presents the complexity of human nature by telling a simple story. In an impoverished postwar Rome society, Antonio lands a job as a postman. However, shortly after he starts working, his bicycle is stolen. Not only have he not gotten any payroll, but he also lost his savings. In order to find the thief, he meets a fortune teller, fighting with the crowd, arguing with the police, quitting the thief hunt due to the lack of evidence. Eventually, he even has to give up his conscience and turn out to be a thief himself. The movie successfully reflects the social reality, connection of love, the ambiguity area of laws, and the human nature.
First of all, it presents the citizen class in a real society. Despite the fact that the era is so poor that even the postman can be a hot job, the gap between the poor and the rich still exists. While the police officer said that “it is just a bike” to Anthony, it is actually everything to the leading role. The bike is precious not only because of the value itself, but also its symbol as a sacrifice and hope of his entire family. Furthermore, while it is raining cats and dogs and each passenger on the street walks peacefully with an umbrella or hat, Anthony and his son are the only two figures who run in a hurry without any cover from the rain. This contrast implies the helplessness, embarrassment and inferiority that Antony family might face and feel in their daily life.
Secondly, this film also demonstrates the love among the family members. While Anthony needs a bike, his wife tries her best to make his wish true. All the devotion they’ll made is all for the family they’ve built up. Morefore, after Anthony punishes his son and mistakenly thinks his son were dead, in attempt to erase his guilt, he spends all of his money making his son happy.
Thirdly, it shows the grey area between the reality and the law. There is a scene portraying that the police officer claims that Anthony has the right to check numbers on others’ bikes. However, while the claim sounds naturally right, people who is questioned may also responds that the authorities have deprived his right of privacy. Even though laws can protect people, they often create conflicts between different kind of rights in different roles. Furthermore, while in fact, Anthony should have catched the thief, but he is forced to quit his hunting due to the lack of evidence, which expresses the defect of the law.
Last but not least, this movie releases human nature, both positively and negatively. While the world has been unfair to Anthony, he chooses to turn himself into a thief as a revenge. However, while the world seems nice to him again, he appears to find his conscience back and cry with his son with the feelings of shame and guilt.
The script and the use of directing techniques in this film allow us to see a lot of absurdly grey areas that happen in the society regarding reality, love and human nature. Since the law is produced by dead systems whereas the humanity is presented by lively hearts, the gap and conflicts between them are and will be always there. The law can not solve everything, but as long as stories are told and heard by the public, this world shall continue to run in a positively optimistic fashion.
