Criterion's BICYCLE THIEVES Steals The Show

Vittorio De Sica is widely regarded as a master in the realm of world cinema. As one of the Italian neorealism forerunners (in company with Roberto Rossellini and Luchino Visconti), De Sica concentrated on films that told stories about real people on real locations. He was fantastic at casting ordinary citizens for his lead roles --- particularly for his film Bicycle Thieves, which was recently been released via the Criterion Collection.

The plot is simple: Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani), a father in depressed, post-WWII Rome finally gets a job, which is everything, but he needs his bicyle. In order to provide for his family, he must get his bicycle back from the pawn broker, and to do that, his wife Maria (Lianella Carell) must pawn their bedsheets. It sounds insane, but people actually had to do this back then. A shot of the sheets being placed into an enormous stack of shelves filled with linens will give you an acurate picture of the sacrifices that the working class had to make.

All is well on the first day of Antonio's job (even if he does a crap job on putting up that Gilda poster), until a thief steals his bike. Antonio chases the thief, who quickly disappears into Rome's traffic. As a requirement of holding his job, the absence of the bicycle becomes a devasting loss. What follows is simply the saga of Antonio and his son Bruno (Enzo Staiola) looking for the bike throughout Rome. The ordinary becomes tragic in the melancholic eyes of lead Maggiorani and the mix of wistful hope and sadness from Staiola. 

In the midst of poverty, the smallest things matter. And this film portrays it well and acurately. What seems like the most simplistic concept on paper becomes a deeply moving message on the human experience. In De Sica's hands, the story of Bicycle Thieves is a film worth watching in any country, at any age. The struggle of life is universal, and the last ten minutes have the ability to crush the more sensitive among us.

The blu-ray is born from a fantastic 4K transfer --- I have no doubt that this is the best the 1948 film has looked since its original screening on 35mm in theatres. In fact, this transfer was taken from the orginal nitrate negative. Clicks, thumps, hisses, and the like were removed via a painstaking ProTools extraction, and the soundtrack was remastered to a 24-bit rate track. It looks and sounds great.  

As for extras, there are are supplements that will satisfy even the most pitnicky film buffs; however, they are so academic that more general film fans may become bored. For those who love this stuff, a 2003 documentary on frequent De Sica collaborator and screenwriter Cesare Zavattini is quite exhaustive. Film scholar Mark Shiel provides truly encyclopedic knowledge on Italian neorealism, De Sica and his films, and world cinema. His brain is pretty astounding when it comes to recalling years, names, and details; watch it and you'll know what I mean.

More enjoyable extras for less academic fans include Working with De Sica, a series of interviews with screenwriter Suso Cecchi d'Amico, actor Enzo Staiola, and film scholar Callisto Cosulich --- which chronicle their experience with the director. The 36-page booklet that comes with the blu-ray and DVD is filled with rememberances from the time period of creating and screening Bicycle Thieves, in addtion to an essay by film critic Godfrey Cheshire.

If you're a film student, Italian or world cinema fan, or just curious to learn more about the older masters of cinema, pick up Criterion's Bicycle Thieves now and be transported to another era. Check out the trailer below.