Monday, July 6, 2009
The Bicycle Thief
In Roberto Rossellini's Open City, it was easy to spot the hero--those that stood up to the Nazis, such as the priest. However, In Vittorio De Sica's work, if is a bit more difficult to separate the villians and heros. In a paragraph discuss who the villian is in The Bicycle Thief OR talk about portrayal of the church.
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ReplyDeleteIt was confusing to figure out who the villain was because of all the drama that occurred. I think that there were multiple villains because each character was affected by other characters actions. The main character, Antonio, was an innocent man trying to make a living when he was affected by the man who stole his bicycle. When he tried to inform the police about the theft, they did not care enough to do anything about it, therefore they can be counted as a villain as well because of their lack of action. When Antonio decided to take matters into his own hands and confront his villain, the community was against him for accusing the man who stole his bike. In the long run, Antonio became a villain when he stole the bicycle at the end of the movie only because after doing everything he could the right way; he was left with no other choice but to do what was done onto him.
ReplyDelete-Neil Santos
I believe that the true villain in the Bicycle Thief is the very poorly run government of post World War II Italy. This is first apparent when Antonio has his bike stolen and proceeds to go to the police in an attempt to get help in finding it. Antonio files a complaint and then the officer he is speaking with tells him to leave and that the police will not search for it. Thus, Antonio filing a complaint really accomplishes nothing since the police will not do anything to assist him in recovering the bike. When the government cannot even protect the rights and property of its citizenry, then there is no point in having a government at all.
ReplyDeleteTim Chantland
I feel that Antonio himself was the villain. Although he was going through a hard time, as well as almost everyone in Italy, he gave into the temptation. I understand what happened to him, it was not fair, but as one of the characters pointed out, he set a “great” example for his son. In his desperation, he acted carelessly and was caught. He was tested and he failed. Throughout the film Antonio seemed to be headed on the right track. He was taking the proper steps. He was so close. Unfortunately Antonio was a good guy through almost the entire film but the bad guy in him won once he decided to steal that bicycle.
ReplyDeleteThe distinction between villian and hero is quite difficult to figure out. It seems even more difficult to define villian and hero in this film. The police who do nothing about a stolen bicycle could be considered villians because that is their job. Antonio really could have used their help. In difficult times, people do things that are not right. This is the case when Antonio tries to steal the bicycle at the end of the film. He is caught and confronted by many men. The worst thing of all is that his son sees this. Despite his actions, Antonio is not a villian. He is not a hero either. He is somewhere in between, probably where most people fall. Perhaps that is one theme to be taken from the film, that there is a bit of hero and villian in most of the characters.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned in your post it is difficult to differentiate the hero vs. the villain in Bicycle Thief. From the beginning you associate the bicycle thief as the villain who causes hardship and struggle to the father and his family. During most of the film you are hoping that the father will turn out to be the hero and get the bike back and continue to work for the family. The idea of the father as the hero, continues through the majority of the film until he gives in to temptation and tries to steal a strangers bike. At this moment I saw the bicycle itself as the villain or evil temptation. The hero on the other hand remains unclear, but I saw the hero as the little boy. In the end when the father is about to get beat up by the other men, the strangers look down at the boy and feel bad that he is crying, and can see through his misery and embarrassment for his father for committing this crime. The father also looks at the son with embarrassment and realizes what he has done. Therefore I think the son is the hero because he saved his father from going to jail and from his fathers greedy temptations.
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to decide who the villain is in Bicycle Thief, there are more than one. At first the villain is the man who stole the bike from the main character and throughout the movie the government is a reoccurring villain. The title seems to be directed toward the main character though, the whole movie he is trying to find his thief and in the end he ends up stooping to a lower to get another bike. Although he is not a real villain, rather just a good man go through a desperate time in his life, the movie was about his journey. His journey in life consisted of a corrupt government and untrustworthy people on the streets of his city. By the movie, with desperate times, everyone played a part as a villain no matter how big or small if may have been.
ReplyDeleteI as well feel as though the villain in this movie is the guy who stole this poor guys bicycle towards the beginning. Who would have thought that a bicycle can cause so much hardship on a family? Throughout the movie you can see the main characters and family saddened, everything shifted so quick. From finding a job and selling bed sheets to buy a bicycle, to going back to having nothing. As a viewer you want so badly for the main character to find his bike and return to the hardworking man he was. Towards the end the main character looks as though he gave it his all to find that bicycle and feels as if he has done everything in his power to get it back. From going to stores where they fix bicycles and asking there, going to police station, evening confronting the man who stole his bicycle and getting the entire town against him. Towards the end the main character gets desperate and shifts from hero to villain as well by stealing another mans bicycle and getting caught by the owner and police.
ReplyDeleteTo pinpoint one specific villain in this movie is difficult. Each person's actions plays an important role to each character's reaction. Whether it be distinguished as a bad act of who stole the bike it seems more that everything was out of desperation. For the man who stole the bike in the beginning of the movie, we see how hard it is to find and job and make money in Italy at the time, it seems as though he took it to sell the parts to survive. This caused the main character to steal a bike in order to provide for his family. Throughout the movie it seems as though the villain was the government, they didn't seem to have a fair standard of laws or justice system and did little to help those in need. Although, the law about stealing a bike were clearly stated, I felt as though the main character wasn't the villain. Seeing his devastation made you sympathize with him and showing that he stole the bike only out of desperation pours sympathy towards him.
ReplyDeletei think there is one obvious villan in the story that the director wants us to believe. but i also think it switches as the story goes on. the obvious villian i think in the story is the bicycle theif. the man who caused the main character pain and frustration by stealing his bicycle seems to be the main villian, but it is hard to know who he really is throughout the whole story. it is horrible to see that man loose his bike because it meant his life to him, it was the reason he was able to get a good job and make the income his family needed. and when his bicycle was taken away those things were not possible anymore which puts a damper on his life. towards the end of the story i think the villian turns to the main character (theman who got his bike stolen). i think this because throughout his whole search for the thief he turned himself into a thief out of anger and frustration of all the chaos that had happened that day. it was very sad in the end and you definetly understand what he is going through.
ReplyDelete• The Bicycle Thief is in my opinion a film about life; it portrays unfairness by showing the unfortunate events and circumstances that occur to Antonio. For this reason, The Bicycle Thief and the world is full of villains because for the most part every human being makes mistakes and can have a villain-side to him/her. The government in the film is portrayed by the police system that is very unorganized and doesn't stand for truth, and honesty. The police doesn't defend their average citizens that are in desperate need of help-Antonio. The second villain in the film is the Catholic church. The old man that plays the informant, can represent the church because he was attending mass. I think he is a villain because he is hypocritical by not being truthful to Antonio. Also it seemed like he was at mass to get a free meal and wasn't there for the right reasons. Another villain in the film is the person who robbed Antonio and took his bike. Antonio let himself become a villain by becoming frustrated with life, just like each of us can give in to evil.
ReplyDeleteIn the bicycle thief it is no easy to point out a main villian. I believe that the director made the viewer see more than just one villian. For example in the begining the man who stole Antonio's bike was the villian. In the middle it was the law enforcement not helping Antonio who were portrayed as villians. And towards the end Antonio himself seemed like the villian because he was so desparate to find his bike he actually got caught stealing someone elses. In the bicycle thief its difficult to point out one main villian but easy to point out several.
ReplyDelete-April Fernandez
I agree with Tim. In "The Bicycle Thief" the villain is Italy. Whether the system was corrupt or just unorganized, it served as a roadblock for Antonio and his work. With the police not helping and then old man not offering his help until the very end because the kid has ties to the mafia, it makes it very difficult for him to move past this.
ReplyDeleteoops...i forgot to put my name. Mi dispiace.
ReplyDeleteJaclyn Benjamin ("jdawg")
In The Bicycle Thief i originally wanted to say that the villain is the man who first stole the bike because of all the hardship that he caused Antonio, he was unable to keep his job without it, and they didn't really have the money to buy it in the first place. But after thinking of the possible motives that this other man must have had to steal it then i no longer want to call him a villain. He could have had the same motives as Antonio, a desperation to acquire something he needed that would help him better his situation. And although Antonio himself tried to steal a bike at the end of the movie, i never saw him as a villain because i saw his whole story and understood his motives, it was his financial situation that led him to try to steal the bike, it was not just out of ill will. So i guess the villain in this movie wouldn't be any particular character, but instead be the economic situation that Italy was going through at the time which led many people to act out of desperation and do things that they wouldn't have done otherwise.
ReplyDeleteIn The Bicycle Thief, Antonio is offered a job that requires a bicycle, and in the time the movie is taking place, post-war, there is an economic depression, so to be offered a job during this time was a big deal and well taken advantage of. The villain in the beginning was the elder man that had stole Antonio's bike and the dreams of a job and security for his family with it. However, in the end, after a gruesome chase around the city for the man who stole his bike, the domino effect took place and Antonio became the villain stealing another man's bike hoping to get away with it as the other man did. It goes to show what desperation the post-war depression caused the people.
ReplyDeleteSorry, my account wasn't working
ReplyDeleteIn the Bicycle Thief, there are many villains, but it seems that society, as a whole, is one of the main villains. The film takes place during the second World War, when economic hardship was very noticeable. Everyone seemed to be forced to turn against each other, in hopes to get ahead. The protagonist starts off as a victim, when his bike is stolen, but ends up being a villain, when he in turn steals someone else's bike out of desperation. It seems that when times are hard, we are all forced to be the villain.
-Beatriz
To me i believe that Antonio himself was the villian. Many horrible things happened to him but in harsh times the last thing to do is be a thief himself and show such a bad example to his son. His bike was stolen and that was the only way he could have the job his family so desperately needed but for him to do the same thing made me feel he didnt keep his constant values throughout the film. Thus to me, he was the villian.
ReplyDelete