Bicycle Thieves

A masterpiece of Italian filmmaking and foundation stone of the neorealist film movement, Vittorio De Sica's The Bicycle Thief is a harrowing portrait of loss and depravation in post-war Rome. Awarded an honorary Oscar for Best Foreign Film, and regularly voted one of the greatest films of all time, The Bicycle Thief is a simple, powerful movie about a man who needs a job. Like the great neo-realist film that preceded it, Roberto Rossellini's Open City, The Bicycle Thief was shot on location in the streets of Rome using non-professional actors, giving chilling authenticity to the story of a man's desperate bid to provide for his family. De Sica combined with long-time collaborator, writer Cesare Zavattini, to produce a potent mix of real life detail, detective story and poetic melodrama as a father (Lamberto Maggiorani) and his devoted son (Enzo Staiola) roam the streets of the capital in search of the bicycle that will deliver them from poverty. (Umbrella Entertainment)