Reference no: EM133487873

Problem

I. Bicycle Thieves (1948)

Director: Vittorio De Sica
Themes: Poverty and Desperation & Father and Son Relationship
Symbolism: Bicycle & Rita Hayworth Poster

Vittorio De Sica's undoubted masterpiece Bicycle Thieves is a landmark film for the Neorealist movement. It contradicted the the distorted narratives and stereotyped images that were presented by Hollywood. In this film ordinary people were able to express life, and therefore humanize those watching. It is an intimate story that follows a father and sons' desperate search for a lost bicycle across a post-war Italy.

Bicycle Thieves has the quality and intention of a documentary. It is totally unromantic. The characters are just ordinary people, and the film gives the impression you are watching life unfold before you. It is entertaining, but that is not the goal. Its goal is to make audiences aware of a particular social condition that needs a political solution. It is clear that it was made as a tool for change.

The film's foundation lies in the instruction of its morals; that an eye for an eye makes the world go blind. Bicycle Thieves was also a film that symbolized many of the values of Italian Neorealist films, including shooting entirely on location, and casting all amateur actors. The lead actor, Lamberto Maggiorani was a factory worker. His son, played by Enzo Staiola, was cast after De Sica observed him watching the shoot.

In your own viewing experience, which elements of the narrative seemed realistic? Which elements of the filmmaking style seemed to accentuate that realism? Which seemed to detract from that appearance of reality? Finally, do you think using this style of storytelling adds to the narrative. In other words, do you think you would have felt less for the characters if the story was told in a more "Hollywood" fashion.

II. Although the Femme Fatale was made to be a cautionary tale in order to discourage women from attaining power, the Femme Fatale is also strongly admired because of how they use the resource of beauty to get far in life when social standards are going against them. The Femme Fatale is a complicated trope because of the grey-area between sexism and female liberation.Think beyond the basic characteristics of the femme fatale and in three paragraphs discuss how you think a femme fatale is a product of World War II and is related to the economic and social changes in the 1940s.