1. Antonio, among many others, can’t find a job because of a depression following World War 2. Economic depressions can be solved by adding industry to a country, or to the city. It could be solved the same way America’s Great Depression was. President Roosevelt convinced the people that the only way to gain money is by also spending it. Buying products from companies would increase the demand for them, and lead to more production needs and jobs.
Antonio did suffer from isolation. But I think everyone at the time was feeling the same way without available work and little help to make a living. They needed to help themselves before they could help others. Because he was desperate, he had a fragile human condition.
2. Antonio cared for Bruno as any loving father would. Antonio would try to keep Bruno happy by taking him out to eat, even though they had little money left. He obviously cared for Bruno. When another child fell off the bridge into the river, Antonio was frightened and distraught when he thought he lost Bruno. But throughout the film, the sides turn. After Antonio can’t get his bike, he loses hope. Bruno takes his hand as they walk away to show that now he needs to support his father emotionally. And maybe in the future he may need to support his father financially.
3. In the crowd scenes, the people leave Antonio alone, for the most part. They do not help him, even when he asks for it. This might be because in the desperate times, they need to help themselves first. The ways the crowds are shown in the film are by having the camera right in the middle of the people. It makes us feel like we are in the crowd with the characters and not watching from overhead.
4. The title “Bicycle Thieves” refers to both the first thief and Antonio. At the end of the film, Antonio becomes so desperate that he tries to steal a bike. By Antonio becoming the thief, I got the insight of what led the first thief to steal in the beginning.
The crowd scenes make me angry. When Antonio's bike was stolen at the beginning of the film, he shouted "Help" and not one even flinched. When the man at the end of the movie cried "help", tons of people started chasing after Antonio. Now, I'm not sure if this had anything to do with time or location, but I still think that it was very unfair.
ReplyDeleteI do think that Bruno will end up helping his family financially. Technically he already does. As his Antonio was on his way to work, he dropped Bruno off at his job at a gas station. Now, this is only a small part of the film and is not given as much concern as the working children in Ciao Professore. Perhaps this is because Bicycle Thieves is focusing more on a single family and their struggles with poverty, rather than a group of children who are struggling with education.
I couldn't agree with you more about Antonio's love for Bruno and how throughout the film the dynamic of their roles become reversed and we see Bruno become like a parent and Antonio more like a child, needing love and feeling dependent. To me that is the saddes thing imaginable is losing your place as a man and it's not a matter of humility but more as a matter of feeling sorry that you have to put your family through this ordeal in order to survive. So sad...
ReplyDelete