Arts Essays

Media Sample Essay: Bicycle Thieves - Solitude and Isolation

How are solitude and isolation expressed by Antonio Ricci and Bruno Ricci in the film ‘Bicycle Thieves’

‘Bicycle Thieves’ (dir. Vitorrio de Sica 1948) typifies the Italian Neo-Realism period. In a backlash to the vacuous triviality of the ‘white telephone comedies’ we find a series of films which attempt to plainly and honestly represent the troubles of everyday people.

In the case of ‘Bicycle Thieves’ these people are Antonio Ricci and his son Bruno whose plight is portrayed by de Sica in the most compelling of fashions. That de Sica’s characters can convey such helpless, desperate, isolation in a city of so many people, is testimony to masterful directing as well as astutely judged dialogue.

From the first shot of ‘Bicycle Thieves’ it is communicated that Antonio is a solitary man. We are shown a crowd of people gathered round together, the shot is filled with people and movement.

Then, in the same shot, the camera zooms-out and we are taken across an empty Plaza to where the forlorn figure of Antonio sits alone. His physical separation here feels as though it is meant to be analogous to a detachment of a social kind also.

The contrast between the crowded shot of the worker’s followed by a stark shot of Antonio creates a potent suggestion of the protagonist’s situation. It is a tool de Sica uses often: For the brief period in the film where Antonio is content, he is rarely alone in shot and never filmed from a distance.

However when things go awry we increasingly find de Sica using wide lenses and long shots with no one else in shot. Not only does this depict Antonio’s solitude but it is also suggestive of a feeling of insignificance in a city of thousands.

This is perhaps most potently exemplified when we Antonio’s bike is stolen. As he chases the thief to the junction we are given an elevated long shot of Ricci stranded in the centre of an unforgiving road.

De Sica is equally as suggestive with his more subtle imagery. As a symbol of the overall triviality of what to the Ricci family is an overwhelming plight, the image of the pawnbroker’s warehouse is profound.

As the clerk takes away Antonio’s bed linen we watch with Antonio as it is added to a mountain of other people’s linen. As Ricci looks up at the incomprehensible tower, the camera pans up and we witness, from Antonio’s perspective the crushing anonymity of his tragedy.

This image is later echoed by the hundreds of bicycle’s lined up as if to taunt Antonio for his irrelevance.

Antonio reveals an interesting insight into his attitude and perception of the endless crowds of people whom constantly surround him; reporting the theft at the police station he says ‘There were many people about but they had other things on their minds’.

This casual comment is perhaps the best example we have of where Antonio expresses his own situation. Despite being forever surrounded by people, he evidently feels they have no time for him and he is therefore alone.

This attitude is evident in his behaviour for in his increasingly desperate manner he manages to offend every single crowd he encounters. He offends a bus-queue, the queue at the psycic’s, the church goers, the suspect’s neighbours, the public meeting and then of course, for a finale, he offends the common man’s sense of decency. Antonio feels he has no respect in the city and as this is well expressed through the lack of respect he affords others.

There are other ways in which a sense of alienation is expressed during the film: As Bruno and his father shelter against a wall from the rain (which has washed away their hope of finding the bike) they find themselves surrounded by a group of German speakers. Bruno, (who has just fallen without his father noticing) in particular looks disconcerted by this.

The pair are finding the surroundings of their own home to be unfamiliar and alien. Similarly when Antonio takes Bruno to the restaurant, we begin to see things through Bruno’s eyes. There are particularly odd looking people around them and this would seem unlikely to be an accident.

The young boy in the adjacent table, perhaps Bruno’s age is ‘an other’. His social distance is emphasised by a striking physical disparity. Similarly the band leader is positively intimidating and one senses that Bruno has been unsettled by the day’s events.

The pair then seem unable to comfort each other, Antonio is consumed by his plight and burdens Bruno with the intricacies of the family finances. The harsh unfamiliarity is strikingly depicted and one obtains a sense of Bruno’s discomfort.

The final scene of ‘Bicycle Thieves’ is highly emotive. After Antonio steals the bike, first we see a shocked Bruno, aghast at his father’s action. Then as Antonio is caught we see the pair consumed by a crowd.

It is a striking image. The crowd that have been so indifferent to Antonio, that he has felt isolated from now surge upon him. As Bruno takes his father’s hand the pair seem to have become even more alone.

The weeping Antonio has lost the respect of an adoring son, whilst Bruno is visibly shaken, having lost his role-model. The pair then disappear into the crowd. We see only the backs of their heads as they disappear into the distance. Anonymous even to the viewer, now they are completely alone and the film ends.

It is through skilful directing that Antonio and Bruno are able to express to the viewer a sense of isolation and solitude as well as a good deal of pathos.

de Sica’s use of direct and indirect imagery enables us to appreciate the tragedy of the Ricci’s. Which though perhaps minor in scope is monumentally significant in it’s gravity.

Alone and friendless in a vastly populated city and eventually isolated even from each other, their struggles are potently represented and the pathos painfully achieved.

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