1. 單車失竊記 Ladri di biciclette
What about the film moved me most was the affection between father and son.
We could find that no matter where did the father go, the son would be his father’s
side. To some extent, I think the son was his father’s reflection. When they were
finding the bike, their action was symmetrical which had some classical aesthetics. At
that time, I thought that the son was a part of his father. The camera used the long
shot to make both father and son stand parallel, as if they were equal to each other.
The use of long shot dwarfs them so that we could compare them and found that
they were so similar. When the father couldn’t find the convict, venting the anger on
his son and drove away him. As he heard someone was drowned, he thought the
person was Bruno. As he ran faster to check, he ran outside the frame, becoming
much smaller. On the contrary, the anxiety became bigger because we wouldn’t see
what was happening outside the frame. The father’s echo vibrating in the air made
us feel nervous and the father’s helpless. At that moment, the feeling of losing made
him sober. He loved his son so much. There was some implication that the affection
between the relatives was more important than anything.
The film like a documentary film which recorded the thing might happen in our
lives. The film didn’t use lots of montages; it described the matter detailed and
accurately which made me feel that the film didn’t want to modify and hide anything.
It presented a social matter faithfully; the director didn’t want to beautify the ugly
side of human nature and bad society. The film was so trivial that made me feel that I
was listening an old man telling a bad story. However, the story was flowing easy and
smooth which didn’t make us feel drowsy. It was rich in narrative.
In spite of the fact that the film didn’t use lots of movie techniques which made us
feel the director was showing off his talents. However, in some touching scenes, the
film also used some techniques to emphasize the strong emotions. When the father
got after the burglar with lost, the camera gave him a close –up shot to emphasize
the helpless on his face. The camera followed the actor’s steps forward as if the
audience would find the bugler with him. Then, the actor went to the crowds, his
form turned to small, finally, he became to a part of the crowd like melting in them.
The camera used the long shot to make us see the actor’s all form which symbolized
that the human was small on the world. Sometimes, we didn’t have power to
struggle to the fate.
When we saw that the father was hard to post the posters which were his job
that got not easily. We could find that he wasn’t good at posting the posters. Because,
we could find that the posters weren’t posted smoothly. However, he must to do the
job, which was his duty to support the whole family. So, when he found his bike was

2. stolen, he still returned to do his job unwilling. To their family, he was so important
to support a family livelihood. That was why he must to find his bike. In the film, we
could find that no matter where he went he uplifted his bike instead of pulling his
bike. From this, we could aware that he very treasured his bike.
Not only the bike wasn’t easy to get but also it was the tool to support his family.
The film criticized some aspect of the society. In the beginning of the film, we
could see that the crowd came in great number to find a job. What caused the
phenomenon? It could be originated from the war which influenced civilians’ lives.
The bad fate caused the father’s bad behaviors. There were many contractions in the
father’s life. In the beginning, he didn’t believe in the shaman, however, when he
couldn’t find his bike, he turned for her help which was contrary to his belief. At last,
he even wanted to steal a bicycle from the crowds. All the contractions of him were
due to the bad environment in the society. When his son and he ate in the restaurant,
the son and the rich child’s eyes touch could make us aware of the problem of
poverty gap.