BICYCLE THIEVES, WHY EVERYONE SHOULD CARE ABOUT THIS LYRICAL MASTERPIECE

“What is hell? I believe that is the suffering of being unable to love.” -Dostoevsky

Recently, newspapers have reported that one of the unexpected side effect of coronavirus pandemic has been an unprecedented increase in bicycle thefts in all big cities around the world. This is because people are afraid to take crowded public transportation with the fear of contracting coronavirus. Bicycles have become the most popular transportation vehicles and are very easy to steal or hijack.

Bike thefts are nothing new. It reminded me one of the most beautiful movie experiences of my very romantic and idealistic youth, Vittorio De Sica’s neo-realistic masterpiece Bicycle Thieves.

I have a tendency, when feeling lonely, to travel down memory lane and try to remember all beautiful memories, and if possible, try to relive them, by remembering every little detail about them. Or if it is a movie, watch it again. This is a very effective self–therapy for me when I feel lonely or in a depressed mood.

I strongly believe that our beautiful memories of the past, which could be about important people in our life, beautiful places or cultural events, shape our future by influencing our personality, our thinking and our behaviors.

The movie Bicycle Thieves stands out as most beautiful and unforgettable cultural events of my youth. This 1948, Italian neo-classic lyrical masterpiece affected me so much that after so many years, I still care about it. I want to see it again and again.

I often thought, why do I still like it and care so much about this movie? Why do I want everyone to see it? 

I believe that the raw emotions of the story, its complex and unaltered expression of emotions of a decent man who is with his little son, desperately searching for his stolen bike among millions of bikes in the streets of ancient city of Rome, to save his dignity. I believe, it is still relevant in today’s societies. The haves and have-nots, inequality, racism, prejudice, egoism, injustice, lies and lack of empathy make many of us to wish to become bicycle thieves, in our thoughts and imaginations.

I believe that to care about this movie classic is to care about the whole world.

Master Italian movie maker De Sica’s neo-realist style of movie making has been much imitated and copied without similar success. Neorealism contend with the difficult economic and moral condition of World War II Italy, showing changes in Italian psyche and conditions of everyday life, including poverty, oppression, injustice and economic depression. These are all depicted in the movie, with pure realism and without any changes and didacticism.

To me, Bicycle Thieves should become a cultural heritage of the world to be treasured because in it, the soul of a decent man has been filmed.