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.
Please note: The above art essays and dissertations were written by students and then submitted to us to display and help others. Thanks to all the students who have submitted their work to us.
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