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.