Its themes will always have a lasting relevance which demonstrates how neorealism films have stood the test of time due to their commitment to portray reality.

there are people in society who do not have these anxieties and misfortune and are very well provided for.

Initially the constitution of Italy proclaimed Italy as a ‘Republic of labour’ and people were hopeful of social justice. However, the new labour agreements, produced between 1946 and 1948, gave employers significantly more rights compared to the workers.

There was a shortage of basic necessities during postwar Italy, therefore the black market was an important source of all goods. The black market is a running motif for postwar Italian films, such as, Alberto Lattuada’s Il Bandito and Gennaro Righelli’s Abasso la Riche; it shows the societal desperation at the time as well as the need and lack of political intervention.

t represents Antonio’s social mobility and hope for the future acting as the tool necessary to save his family from poverty. However, the theft of the bicycle shows the failure of trust and is symbolic of the breakdown of civic values in contemporary Italian society.

The title of the film points to how Antonio’s loss is being replicated in other similar situations, there is not just the thief who stole Antonio’s bike, but multiple bicycle thieves which indicates that this was a frequent circumstance which further demonstrates how many people were being plunged into criminality to survive.

The film uses neorealist elements making it much more realistic, and portraying small details, such as the scene where Antonio’s wife pawns bed linen to raise funds, to present an authentic representation of the condition’s families had to endure.

The neorealist movement was overwhelmingly anti-fascist and had communist contributors, Di Sica himself was said to have had sympathies with the Communist party.

Produced in 1948, Cesare Zavattini’s script tells the story of a workman named Antonio who is in the search of his stolen bicycle accompanied by his young son, Bruno. Without the bicycle, Antonio cannot make a living for his family.

he simplicity of the plot speaks to the audience of the desperation of the human experience. Di Sica goes beyond showing the genuine living conditions of Rome, a city in crisis in those post-war years, by narrating Antonio’s individual experience affected by economic collapse as he struggles to make ends meet.

Vittorio Di Sica’s 1948 film, Bicycle Thieves, provides a profoundly moving and accurate snapshot into post-war Italian society. Shot using non-professional actors and almost exclusively on the streets of Rome following World War II, Di Sica’s film authentically represents life during an economically damaged society, devastated by an enduring war.