Bicycle Thieves(1948)
dir. Vittorio De Sica
A stolen bike. A father and son. All of Rome.
Where to watch: Free: Kanopy, Tubi (ads), Prime Video free with ads; subscription HBO Max, Prime Video; rent $2.99 on Fandango At Home (JustWatch US, checked 2026-11-02).Letterboxd ↗
In postwar Rome, Antonio finally gets a job pasting posters, but it requires a bicycle. When his is stolen on the first day, he and his young son Bruno spend the day searching the city. De Sica used non-professional actors and shot on the street, and the result is a simple story about what a bicycle means to a family.
Why it’s here
The film shows poverty as a trap with a clear shape. What's punk is that it refuses to make the thief a villain or the hero a saint. What's pedagogical is the father and son's walk, which shows a child watching an adult's dignity break. A foundation of neorealism, pairs with Children of Heaven and Rosetta. Note: subtitled and black and white; it's slow by modern standards but short.
Where This Film Lives
- Setting
- Italy
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