Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £4.99 a month
Bicycle Thieves
Vittorio De Sica’s story of a father and son searching for a stolen bicycle on the streets of Rome is a classic of post-war Italian cinema.
Drama 1948 89 mins
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Overview
A landmark of humanist filmmaking, Bicycle Thieves was a key work in the 1940s film movement known as Italian neo-realism. Set in post-war Rome, it follows the misfortunes of down-on-his-luck Antonio (played by Lamberto Maggiorani) and his young son Bruno (Enzo Staiola). Over the course of the day they embark on a fruitless hunt for the father’s stolen bike, which he desperately needs to work and support the family.
Along with the wartime trilogy that Roberto Rossellini began with Rome: Open City (1945), it heralded a new kind of cinematic naturalism, employing non-professionals as actors and taking the camera out onto the streets to faithfully record the social realities of a Europe struggling to get back on its feet after WWII. For all its vivid documentation of a downtrodden Rome, it is as a universal tale of human striving that De Sica’s film has proved influential. In 1952 Bicycle Thieves topped Sight & Sound’s inaugural greatest films poll and remains a favourite among both critics and audiences today.
Related
Drama
Sebastiane Sebastiane
Historical drama 1976 85 mins Director: Paul Humfress
A distinctly bold and sensual reclaiming of gay history, Jarman here tells the sexually intense story of the 4th-century martyr.
Ghost World Ghost World
Comedy 2001 107 mins Director: Terry Zwigoff
Scarlett Johansson and Thora Birch star as a pair of social outcasts struggling to make sense of the world around them, in this sublime love story based on the work of underground artist Daniel Clowes.
Closet Monster Closet Monster
Drama 2015 90 mins Director: Stephen Dunn
An offbeat Canadian coming-of-age drama with surrealist tendencies, featuring the voice of Isabella Rossellini as a talking hamster.
The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey
Science Fiction 1988 91 mins Director: Vincent Ward
A group of medieval English villagers find themselves transported to '80s New Zealand, in Vincent Ward's startling fusion of period fantasy and time-travel science fiction.
La Dolce Vita La Dolce Vita
Drama 1960 175 mins Director: Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini’s masterpiece depicting seven hedonistic days in the life of a tabloid journalist (Marcello Mastroianni) as he searches for the sweet life.
Margarita Margarita
Drama 2012 90 mins Director: Laurie Colbert
When a cash-strapped yuppie couple fire their teenage daughter’s nanny they set of a chain of unexpected events.
Kermode introduces
Lodger: A Story of the London Fog Lodger: A Story of the London Fog
Crime 1926 91 mins Silent Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Ivor Novello plays a strange lodger who may be behind a number of Jack the Ripper-style killings in Alfred Hitchcock’s silent thriller.
Unrelated Unrelated
Drama 2007 96 mins Director: Joanna Hogg
On a Tuscan break a fortysomething woman finds herself drawn to the company of a group of partying teens, including a young Tom Hiddleston (in one of his earliest roles).
For Those in Peril For Those in Peril
Drama 2013 92 mins Director: Paul Wright
An intense and mysterious drama about the lone survivor of a strange fishing accident who’s outcast and persecuted by his fellow villagers.
Distant Voices, Still Lives Distant Voices, Still Lives
Biopic 1988 84 mins Director: Terence Davies
Terence Davies' debut feature is a remarkable evocation of working-class family life in the 40s and 50s and a visionary exploration of memory.
Within Our Gates Within Our Gates
Drama 1919 74 mins Silent Director: Oscar Micheaux
Oscar Micheaux’s startling silent classic – the earliest surviving feature from an African-American director – presents a fascinating black counterpoint to Griffith’s Birth of a Nation.
My Brother the Devil My Brother the Devil
Drama 2012 107 mins Director: Sally El Hosaini
Sally El Hosaini's feature debut tells of the love and disenchantment of two British-Egyptian brothers. Gangs, drugs and sexuality come between them
Directed by Vittorio De Sica
Umberto D. Umberto D.
Drama 1952 89 mins Director: Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio De Sica’s heartbreaking classic about a destitute old man in Rome, trying to survive with only his faithful dog Flike for company.
Boccaccio '70 Boccaccio '70
Anthology 1962 204 mins Director: Mario Monicelli
Four of the greatest Italian directors – Fellini, Visconti, De Sica and Monicelli – join forces with show-stoppers Sophia Loren, Anita Ekberg and Romy Schneider in a carousel of sex and satire mocking the mores of Italian '60s society.
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Comedy 1963 118 mins Director: Vittorio De Sica
Irrepressible Vittorio De Sica (Bicycle Thieves) directs this Oscar-winning film of three comic tales of love and sex in three cities.
Marriage Italian Style Marriage Italian Style
Comedy 1964 97 mins Director: Vittorio De Sica
Sophia Loren and Marcelo Mastroianni are irrepressible as a long-married couple in this exquisite and timeless comedy of our all-too-human foibles.
New
Sebastiane Sebastiane
Historical drama 1976 85 mins Director: Paul Humfress
A distinctly bold and sensual reclaiming of gay history, Jarman here tells the sexually intense story of the 4th-century martyr.
The Wedding Party The Wedding Party
Comedy 1969 92 mins Director: Brian De Palma
Robert De Niro stars in the early, indie comedy from Brian De Palma, co-directed by Wilford Leach and Cynthia Munroe.
Greetings Greetings
Comedy 1968 87 mins Director: Brian De Palma
Robert De Niro stars in Brian De Palma's anti-war satire about three friends trying to avoid the Vietnam War draft.
Ghost World Ghost World
Comedy 2001 107 mins Director: Terry Zwigoff
Scarlett Johansson and Thora Birch star as a pair of social outcasts struggling to make sense of the world around them, in this sublime love story based on the work of underground artist Daniel Clowes.
A Deal With The Universe A Deal With The Universe
Documentary 2018 92 mins Director: Jason Barker
This extraordinarily intimate documentary from Jason Barker tells the inspiring tale of a very different kind of pregnancy.
Closet Monster Closet Monster
Drama 2015 90 mins Director: Stephen Dunn
An offbeat Canadian coming-of-age drama with surrealist tendencies, featuring the voice of Isabella Rossellini as a talking hamster.