A Short-Lived Era

Although the Italian neorealist era is remembered as a unique phase in Italian cinema that was responsible for such masterpieces as The Bicycle Thief and Rome, Open City, the era itself did not last long. Films loyal to the neorealist techniques and themes were produced roughly only in the decade following the war. For having such a profound influence on worldwide cinematic artistic expression, the movement's short life does not make sense. But then when you look at the movement's central purpose, to illustrate the realities of Italy's postwar period, it only seems appropriate that the film movement would last as long as Italian society begged cinema to express the cultural sentiments (180). 15 years following the war, the economic and political faces of Italy had considerably improved. A new government headed by De Gasperi set up many economic reforms to regulate and reduce inflation that had been inflicting the country since the war. The results of the reform indicated Italy's positive progression to stability. Instability was such a crucial component in characterizing the Italian neorealist films that without the inspiration of political and economic instability, the film movement could no longer flourish. 

Changes with Time

All three films, The Bicycle Thief, The Third Man, and Das Boot clearly take stances opposing war and the horrible atrocities resulting from war that affect all walks of life. But it is interesting to note the different approaches these three movies take to express this point of view. The approaches are influenced greatly by both the time period in which the film was made and the country in which the film was produced. The Italian-made Bicycle Thief was released in 1948, only a few years after the war. At that time, instability still plagued Italy. Memories and guilt burdened people as consistent reminders of the past, chaotic politics and debt prevented the country from moving into a new stage post-war. Making The Bicycle Thief amidst Italy's trying times validates the sentiments expressed in the film. The tone set in the film mirrors the mood that paraded throughout Italy at the time. On the other hand, Das Boot, released in 1981, takes a German perspective. Alex explains the German expression that is present throughout the movie, a combination of abhorrence towards the acts of war and a dose of German nationalism. Italy and Germany both lost a great deal in the war, both countries had to deal with consequences and carrying the guilt for the war's occurrence. However, it is clear that the overwhelming notion of helplessness and disorder that pervades throughout The Bicycle Thief has faded with time. Das Boot, made some thirty years later, can take a more introspective look at the war. Time has passed, immediate responses to the war have subsided, grander theories and expressions of the war have been able to form. Both films look to show the disasters of war, but it's interesting to see how time can influence a perspective. 

Balance between Hope and Cynicism

This is a response to Nick's post about how The Bicycle Thieves compared to Das Boot and The Third Man appears to be more optimistic in tone. I don't believe that material or storyline of The Bicycle Thieves is anything grounded in much optimism, and while my previous post addressed the  hopeful tone of the specific scene, I feel that the contrast of hope and despair de Sica reiterates throughout the film creates a strong cynical mood. The film begins on an optimistic note: Antonio has landed a new job. In the trying times following the war, unemployment rates in Italy were high. A job is a strong source of stability and comfort, something many Italians strived to find in the war's aftermath, and Antonio has found it. A bicycle is a requirement for the job, so Antonio and his wife take various items from their house to sell at a pawn shop to work up enough money to buy a bike. Getting the bicycle seems to be the pinnacle moment in which Antonio is able to experience his new freedom provided by his job; the bicycle is his, he can travel where he wants to with it, and it is marked as a symbol of further possibilities and opportunities that await Antonio and his family. However, the surging hope the emanates throughout the first scenes of the movie collides with the following scene in which Antonio witnesses his bike being stolen. The symbolism of future prospects the bike stood for was now being taken away by a faceless man. Poverty is the driving force that drives the thief to steal the bike, yet Antonio's own impoverished state is heightened in this very moment. de Sica emphasizes the magnitude of poverty in Italy by expressing its prevalence in all parts of the Italian city, on the streets, in the home, at a restaurant. The scene at the restaurant is uplifting in many ways; the idea of a family meal is something familiar to most audiences that conjures up memories of comfort and happiness. There is lively music in the background and happy anticipation as the son waits for his meal to arrive. Yet, coupled with this is the overhanging reality that this warm atmosphere is not something Antonio can regularly offer his son; the daily expectations of a comforting meal will be forever regulated by Antonio's work pay and the family's finances. Although Antonio can bring his son to a fancy restaurant and imagine themselves wealthy, there will always be a decisive barrier between what Antonio desires to be and what he will always be defined as based on his financial limitations. The ending of the film, in which Antonio is caught attempting to steal a bike and faces repercussions for his actions, again highlights the rise and fall of hope as it collides with reality.  

Not exactly anti-fascist

Italian neorealism is often classified to be in direct opposition to fascism. As I have shown, this characterization proves true to a certain extent. Italian neorealism obviously responded to the the fascist regime's censorship on filmmaking as well as the "stylisation, heroic rhetoric, and literary tedium" of the fascist era. Many neorealist filmmakers were openly anti-fascist. But it is important to note the influence fascism had on the Italian film industry that undoubtedly influenced the development and magnitude of Italian neorealism. Fascism's focus on the domestic film industry strengthened and expanded it, allowing for Italian neorealism to be more accessible to both filmmakers and audiences. Many neorealist filmmakers even worked within the film industry structures established under the fascist regime (180). Additionally, Italian neorealism did not solely respond to the conservative measures of the fascist regime, but also to the political, economic, and cultural unstableness after the war. Although the Italian neorealist films often confronted the hypocrisies of fascism, the postwar Italian government and the Catholic Church also took offense to some of the material in the films. The Bicycle Thief was temporarily taken out of circulation at the request of both institutions. Both the Church and the government did not appreciate the helpless role they were conceived to play in the film and did not support the portrayal of Italians in hopeless poverty and without "human dignity."  Italian neorealism confronted the conservatism and the propaganda tools of the fascist regime, but the influence of fascism on the development of Italian neorealism cannot be denied.

The Bicycle Thief: analysis of a scene

Vittorio de Sica's The Bicycle Thieves is remembered as  one of the quintessential Italian neorealist films. The clip below illustrates several neorealist characteristics that defined films such as this one separate from their predecessors. Right away one notices the location. No sound stages, no Hollywood backdrops, just a simple, generic restaurant that gives off both an authentic Italian vibe as well as a sense of comfort and familiarity. Sica does not shy away from portraying the focal characters in this scene with stark contrasts. Without directly stating the discrepancies, the audience understands the differences between the father, Antonio Ricci, played by Lamberto Maggiorani, and his son, Bruno Ricci, played by Enzo Staiola, and the large family in the restaurant. Lavishly dressed, the other family is understood to be well-off, and Antonio and Bruno's yearning glances over to the family's table, covered with plates of food, suggests the Ricci's desire to live like this family, although they are constrained by their limited means. It's a contrast of wealth versus poverty, dreams versus reality, contrasts that materialized so fully in Italy following the war. However, de Sica balances the presentation of the Ricci's financial constraints with the optimistic mood created by the jolly music and by Antonio's uplifting spirits. The audience questions whether Antonio's mood is sustained to distract himself from his situation or whether Antonio simply believes in making the best of his situation. De Sica leaves the interpretation of Antonio's emotions open, but clearly hints at a mood of optimism and hope. This was a sentiment the Italian public desired to find following the war, that despite their undesirable realities, a feeling of hope would still permeate through the Italian streets. 

Time for some new films

Mussolini's intervention in Italy's film production did ignite a strong source of capital for the fascist regime, but following the war, the Italian public appeared inclined to move away from fascist-tainted cinema. Films made during the fascist era had a Hollywood appeal, using traditional techniques and popular storylines involving heroic and fanciful events to arouse nationalistic sentiments and pride for the Italian country and its fascist regime. But the image that Mussolini's government tried to convey through Italian films was uprooted by the time the regime fell in 1943; the image of a strong, fascist Italy could no longer ring true. After the war, Italy was severely destabilized politically, economically, and culturally. Italian pride was hit hard. Provisions in the postwar treaty forced Italy to sacrifice all its colonies, to pay reparations, and to live with the burden of being "on the wrong side." Constructing a new government in Italy would not be easy, and the political divides within the country, between the outcasted Socialists and Communists, and the elected liberalist coalition, prevented almost any measure from being passed without an outspoken protest. The period following the war was one heavily concentrated on the Italian public. There was no strong government head to organize and stabilize the state, the survival of Italy was in many ways dependent on its people than it had been in in the past. It could be argued that Italian neorealism, mirroring the life and sentiments in the post-war period, valued the cultural traditions of Italy's poor and middle classes through its unembellished filming techniques and reality-based material that had previously been ignored by "'high' Italian culture."Italians were faced with an identity that was no longer truthful and one that was more of a harrowing burden than something to celebrate. Italians needed a new identity, a new source of hope and nationalism, something that represented what Italy realistically was and something that wasn't hidden behind the embellishments of filmmaking under the fascist era. Italian neorealism grew out of the need for a new Italian cultural identity to compliment the new circumstances the country had been thrown into. In describing this attitude, Costica Bradatan writes that "despite everything that had happened, there was still humanity, there was room for new hope, it was still possible to start everything anew" (181). Where Italian films produced under the fascist regime were inspired by a capitalist desire, Italian neorealism flourished as a response to a cultural need.

Fascist Cinema

In order to understand Italian neorealism and Vittorii De Sica's Bicycle Thieves, it's important to look at Italian neorealism's cinematic predecessor in order to appreciate the motivations that inspired the film genre. The Italian cinema under the Italy's fascist regime was something orchestrated to work alongside and benefit fascism's strength in Italy. Sam Rohdie argues in his "A Note on the Italian Cinema During Fascism" that the fascist state, much as any capitalist state, depends upon capitalistic enterprises, and therefore the state's interests tend to primarily benefit the development of capital. The film industry was one area of Italian society that offered vast opportunities for capital investment. It can be seen then how Mussolini used Italian cinema both as a political and economic instrument for the maturation of Italian fascism. The fascist state became heavily influential in all stages of film production, from the screenplay to the cinematography, from the acceptable actors and directors to post-production editing. Film for the fascist regime was a means of projecting its "conservative social values," as Mark Shiel suggests in his Italian neorealism: rebuilding the cinematic city, a form of propoganda reaching the Italian public through a culturally accessible way. Shiel lists some of the ways the Italian film industry was patrolled by Mussolini's regime. The film industry was systematized; several structures were established, each aiming at different elements of the industry in order to shape it according to its fascist role. For example, the Direzione Generale per la Cinematografia was established to limit the presence of foreign cinema in Italy by instituting a high taxation on its importation and dubbing over with Italian the foreign films that did make it into Italy. The institution banned some films and funded others, encouraging the production of films friendly to the fascist cause and disallowing those preaching liberalist values or including material that could appear a threat to the fascist doctrine. Although the  censorship on Italian filmmaking could be seen as a hindrance to artistic expression, the fascist approach did result in increased domestic film production--from 10 to 20 films produced per year in the early 1930s to almost 100 films per year in the early 1940s--which in turn spurred public spending on entertainment, fueling the fascist regime and proving Mussolini's involvement in film production a success.