This document discusses concepts from Marxism and provides context about the development of Italian neorealism as a film movement. It summarizes that neorealism emerged in Italy after World War II to show the struggles of ordinary people, using documentary-style techniques. A key example discussed is The Bicycle Thief, which portrayed postwar realities in Italy without embellishment. The document also notes some of the stylistic techniques and ideologies of neorealism films.
The document provides background information on the 1995 Paris riots in which a young man was shot by police. It discusses the director's inspiration for the film La Haine, which is set in the aftermath of the riots. It prompts the reader to research topics like the demographics of Paris, the prime minister and president during the riots, and how race and racism are major themes in the film.
This document provides context and analysis for a film studies assignment on urban stories involving power, poverty, and conflict. It describes a scene that gives insight into the life of Hubert as he sits alone in his bedroom listening to music and smoking, surrounded by images of heroes. It then shows him looking out the window at his housing project environment and two characters, Vinz and Sayid, walking among the residents. Students are tasked with discussing whether Todorov's narrative theory applies to the scene, the purpose of the sequence, and an analysis of themes, details, and relevant cultural and historical context.
This document discusses a scene from the film Urban Stories where Vinz witnesses his friend shoot and kill a black bouncer after being denied entry to a bar. The scene shows Vinz is shocked by the violence and leaves to find his friends, revealing his character is disturbed by the racial conflict and murder he just saw. The discussion analyzes how this scene portrays themes of power, poverty, and racial conflict through its narrative elements and cultural context.
WJEC - A2 Film Studies FM4 specimen exam questionsElle Sullivan
This document provides an examination paper for the GCE AS/A Film Studies qualification. It contains three sections with multiple choice questions about world cinema, spectatorship topics, and a close critical study of a single film. Students must answer one question from each section, with the questions in Sections A and B carrying 35 marks and questions in Section C carrying 30 marks. The paper tests understanding of aspects studied throughout the AS and A levels.
The document discusses the 1995 French film La Haine and provides analysis of its characters, narrative structure, social and historical context, and close study of certain scenes. Contextual factors explored include the Parisian suburbs or "banlieues", France's colonial history, racism, and police-community relations.
The document discusses the themes explored in the film La Haine, including the treatment of ethnic minorities, poverty, racism, and social issues in the suburbs of Paris. It analyzes the responses of the three main characters - Hubert, Said, and Vinz - to living in the suburbs and the challenges they face. The document also examines the film's portrayal of the police, gender roles, and everyday life in the suburbs through the use of cinematography techniques like variations in depth of field and handheld camera work. These techniques are used to convey themes of social divides and the complex issues faced by inhabitants of the Parisian suburbs.
This document discusses concepts from Marxism and provides context about the development of Italian neorealism as a film movement. It summarizes that neorealism emerged in Italy after World War II to show the struggles of ordinary people, using documentary-style techniques. A key example discussed is The Bicycle Thief, which portrayed postwar realities in Italy without embellishment. The document also notes some of the stylistic techniques and ideologies of neorealism films.
The document provides background information on the 1995 Paris riots in which a young man was shot by police. It discusses the director's inspiration for the film La Haine, which is set in the aftermath of the riots. It prompts the reader to research topics like the demographics of Paris, the prime minister and president during the riots, and how race and racism are major themes in the film.
This document provides context and analysis for a film studies assignment on urban stories involving power, poverty, and conflict. It describes a scene that gives insight into the life of Hubert as he sits alone in his bedroom listening to music and smoking, surrounded by images of heroes. It then shows him looking out the window at his housing project environment and two characters, Vinz and Sayid, walking among the residents. Students are tasked with discussing whether Todorov's narrative theory applies to the scene, the purpose of the sequence, and an analysis of themes, details, and relevant cultural and historical context.
This document discusses a scene from the film Urban Stories where Vinz witnesses his friend shoot and kill a black bouncer after being denied entry to a bar. The scene shows Vinz is shocked by the violence and leaves to find his friends, revealing his character is disturbed by the racial conflict and murder he just saw. The discussion analyzes how this scene portrays themes of power, poverty, and racial conflict through its narrative elements and cultural context.
WJEC - A2 Film Studies FM4 specimen exam questionsElle Sullivan
This document provides an examination paper for the GCE AS/A Film Studies qualification. It contains three sections with multiple choice questions about world cinema, spectatorship topics, and a close critical study of a single film. Students must answer one question from each section, with the questions in Sections A and B carrying 35 marks and questions in Section C carrying 30 marks. The paper tests understanding of aspects studied throughout the AS and A levels.
The document discusses the 1995 French film La Haine and provides analysis of its characters, narrative structure, social and historical context, and close study of certain scenes. Contextual factors explored include the Parisian suburbs or "banlieues", France's colonial history, racism, and police-community relations.
The document discusses the themes explored in the film La Haine, including the treatment of ethnic minorities, poverty, racism, and social issues in the suburbs of Paris. It analyzes the responses of the three main characters - Hubert, Said, and Vinz - to living in the suburbs and the challenges they face. The document also examines the film's portrayal of the police, gender roles, and everyday life in the suburbs through the use of cinematography techniques like variations in depth of field and handheld camera work. These techniques are used to convey themes of social divides and the complex issues faced by inhabitants of the Parisian suburbs.
Understanding Climate Change Resiliency of Oklahoma Forests using FVS and Con...Bijesh Mishra
The document discusses a research project aiming to understand the economic value of different ecosystem services related to timber, cattle grazing, and deer habitat under varying climate conditions in Oklahoma forests. The researchers plan to use the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) and choice modeling surveys to evaluate the economic benefits of deer hunting in different ecosystems managed with different forestry techniques. The objectives are to quantify the economic benefits of deer hunting under recent and future climate scenarios, and understand the economic value of wildlife habitat for hunting. Attributes like mast availability, deer sightings, canopy cover, and hunting lease prices will be examined. Results could help guide sustainable forest management that balances timber, grazing, and wildlife objectives.
Adoption of Sustainable Agriculture Practices Among Kentucky Farmers and Thei...Bijesh Mishra
This document contains data from the 2012 USDA Agricultural Census on farms and farmers in Kentucky and neighboring states. It includes charts showing the total number of farms, average farm size, and age distribution of farm operators in Kentucky compared to other states from 1982 to 2012. It also provides tables with demographic information about Kentucky farmers such as their education levels, years of experience, acreage operated, and income levels. Regression analyses are presented with the number of sustainable agriculture practices adopted as the dependent variable and various farmer and farm characteristics as independent variables.
Farm Diversification for Strengthening Small Farms in KentuckyBijesh Mishra
This document summarizes a survey of 1000 farmers in Kentucky regarding farm sustainability, diversification, and succession. The average age of farmers was 62.85 years old, with a majority having a high school education or some college. Most farmers owned small plots of land and earned less than $50,000 annually from farming. While some sustainable practices had been adopted, a lack of knowledge was a barrier to adopting more. Farmers were highly concerned about input costs and keeping farms in the family. Only about half of farmers expected future generations to be interested in farming. The survey findings can help support small farmers in Kentucky through strategies like education, diversification, and succession planning.
Best Management Practices Adoption Status of Small Farmers in Central and Eas...Bijesh Mishra
This document summarizes the results of a survey of Kentucky farmers regarding their adoption of sustainable agriculture practices. Over 1000 surveys were sent out and 230 responses were analyzed with weights applied to adjust for overrepresentation and small sample sizes. The results were mapped by agricultural district in ArcMap. Double stratified sampling was used based on farm sales value and agricultural district. Key findings included the top ten most adopted practices, rates of adoption among different regions and farm sizes, farmer demographics, and main reasons cited for not adopting more sustainable practices.
Mapping Recent Earthquake in Nepal and Its Geospatial ImpactsBijesh Mishra
This document summarizes information about recent earthquakes in Nepal, including the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. It provides background on Nepal's geography and seismology, detailing three main fault lines. The document outlines Nepal's history of earthquakes and why the country is vulnerable. Details are given on the impacts of the 2015 quake such as deaths, injuries, building damage, and livestock losses. Maps show intensity, aftershocks, and relief efforts. International response to the earthquake is also summarized.
Temporal Patterns in the Surface Urban Heat Island Effect and Land Cover Chan...Bijesh Mishra
Urban heat island (UHI) is a term used to describe increased surface and atmospheric temperatures in an urban core relative to surrounding non-urbanized areas mostly due to the conversion of natural surfaces into the built surfaces. Though the phenomenon has been studied in great extent in several cities throughout the world, the phenomenon is less understood for Kathmandu, and thus little documented in researches. This study uses the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS) 8-day, 1000-meter product (MYD11A2) to estimate the spatial distribution of surface temperatures and the MODISderived Normalized Vegetation Index (MYD17A2) to quantify the pattern of land surface temperature throughout the year in different land cover types and its spatial correlation with the NDVI for the year of 2000 and 2016. Results suggest that the urban surface temperatures are consistently higher than non-urban areas. However, the rate of increase in temperature is higher in outside the urban area. Also, the NDVI is not spatially coincident with the land surface temperature.
Adoption of Sustainable Agriculture Practices among Kentucky Farmers and Thei...Bijesh Mishra
The adoption of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) has been very helpful to attain agricultural sustainability. However, practices are localized and site specific and, thus, less understood in Kentucky. A research was conducted throughout the Kentucky using double stratified survey method to understand farmer’s perception about their farm and farming practices sustainability, adoption of sustainable agriculture practices (SAPs) and adoption barriers of sustainable agriculture practices. The research found that farmers generally perceive that their farm and farming activities are sustainable. The results of negative binomial regression analysis suggest that row crop growers, farmers in favor of diversification, and formal education level increase probability of SAPs adoption. Vegetable growers, and farmers with irrigation facilities also increase probability of the adoption. Income from agro-tourism, land operated, age are significant variables of the adoption of SAPs in Kentucky. Inadequate knowledge, perceived difficulty of implementation, lack of (adequate) market, negative attitude about technologies, and lack of (appropriate) technologies were major adoption barriers of SAPs in Kentucky.
The Urban Heat Island in Kathmandu from 2000 to 2016Bijesh Mishra
The Urban Heat Island in Kathmandu, Nepal:
Evaluating the Spatial Distribution of Changes in
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and Land
Surface Temperatures 2000 to 2016
Analyzing Farm Productivity of Kentucky using Regression ModelBijesh Mishra
Kentucky is facing decline in farms numbers and farmland
with increasing average size. It suggest that small farmers
are moving away from the farming business and large
farmers are increasing. Kentucky agriculture is based on
small and family farmers as about 90% of farm are owned
by family. The research was done using secondary data to
identify factors responsibilities for agriculture productivity
in Kentucky in changing farming condition. Average farm
size, total irrigated area and farmers average age has
significant effect in farm productivity in Kentucky. Average
years in farming has negative relation with farm
productivity. All other variables have positive relation
though some are not significant.
A comparison of Land Cover Change in Kaski District, NepalBijesh Mishra
Kaski, one the major cities of Nepal, major tourism place and regional headquarter of Western Development
region, attracts large population from surrounding resulting 36.4% increase in population proportion and thus, land cover
is rapidly changing in the area. The research intended to find land cover change over nine years from 2000 to 2009 as well
as possible reason for the land cover change. Landsat images were obtained from USGS Glovis, National boundary data
was clipped and dissolved selecting study area, and demographic data were obtained from Central Bureau of Statistics,
Nepal for the research. Data was analyzed using Supervised Classification method with maximum likelihood parameter.
From the result, it is concluded that the urban area has increased by 47.86% in study area with the decrease in forest area
by 26.25%. The possible reason for the land cover change can be attributed to rapid increase in population growth and
rapid urbanization. Also, decrease in water resource and barren land can also be accounted to rapid urbanization and
rapid change in land use pattern though research provides sufficient room for further research in this area of study
Mapping Recent Earthquake In Nepal and Its Geo-spatial ImpactsBijesh Mishra
Nepal is located in tectonically active zone in-between three main fault lines: The Main Central Thrust, The Main Boundary Fault and The Siwaliks and The Himalayan Frontal Fault running parallel through the country resulting Indian Plate under Eurasian Plate. This country is hit by major earthquakes in every 80 to 100 years resulting into heavy losses of lives, properties and historical and world heritage sites. The story maps developed using ArcGIS online demonstrate the recent 7.6 MW Richter scale earthquake devastated locations and its major destruction in infrastructure, human lives, landscape , and impacts on human settlement and out-migration.
This document provides an overview of soil degradation as presented in a slideshow. It defines soil degradation, outlines its global impacts, and describes various causes and types of degradation including erosion, salinization, contamination, and compaction. The document discusses the impacts of degradation on food production and people, including effects on crop yields, income, migration, and conflict. It presents principles of sustainable soil management including maintaining soil life, organic matter, cover crops, and nutrient levels. Specific management techniques are provided such as conservation tillage, organic farming, and integrated nutrient management. Tools to build soil quality include terracing, contour farming, cover crops, and amendments.
Poultry Breeds and Nutritional Value of EggBijesh Mishra
This document contains information about poultry and egg production in Nepal, as well as details on common chicken breeds raised for both meat and eggs. It provides statistics on the total number of poultry and egg production in the country. Local chicken breeds like Sakini, Ghanti Khuile, and Puwakh Ulte are described. Commercial breeds for both egg and meat production such as New Hampshire, Black Australorp, and Giriraj are also outlined, including characteristics, egg production capacities, and body weights. Nutritional information about eggs is presented along with their health benefits. Finally, ideal qualities for fresh eggs are listed.
1. A Sardarji asks for a green TV from an electronics store clerk.
2. He calls Air India to ask how long a flight to Amritsar takes, and hangs up after being told it would just take a second to check.
3. On a job application, when asked for expected salary he writes "Yes" instead of providing a number amount.
The document expresses the longing and loneliness of someone who has lost a close friend. They know their friend will never return, yet they cannot accept this truth and still see their friend's image everywhere. Though surrounded by crowds, they feel lonely without their friend. They wander in the dream of their past friendship and the blissful days they spent together, but now must endure the endless night of pain without their friend and the love and bonding they shared.
Understanding Climate Change Resiliency of Oklahoma Forests using FVS and Con...Bijesh Mishra
The document discusses a research project aiming to understand the economic value of different ecosystem services related to timber, cattle grazing, and deer habitat under varying climate conditions in Oklahoma forests. The researchers plan to use the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) and choice modeling surveys to evaluate the economic benefits of deer hunting in different ecosystems managed with different forestry techniques. The objectives are to quantify the economic benefits of deer hunting under recent and future climate scenarios, and understand the economic value of wildlife habitat for hunting. Attributes like mast availability, deer sightings, canopy cover, and hunting lease prices will be examined. Results could help guide sustainable forest management that balances timber, grazing, and wildlife objectives.
Adoption of Sustainable Agriculture Practices Among Kentucky Farmers and Thei...Bijesh Mishra
This document contains data from the 2012 USDA Agricultural Census on farms and farmers in Kentucky and neighboring states. It includes charts showing the total number of farms, average farm size, and age distribution of farm operators in Kentucky compared to other states from 1982 to 2012. It also provides tables with demographic information about Kentucky farmers such as their education levels, years of experience, acreage operated, and income levels. Regression analyses are presented with the number of sustainable agriculture practices adopted as the dependent variable and various farmer and farm characteristics as independent variables.
Farm Diversification for Strengthening Small Farms in KentuckyBijesh Mishra
This document summarizes a survey of 1000 farmers in Kentucky regarding farm sustainability, diversification, and succession. The average age of farmers was 62.85 years old, with a majority having a high school education or some college. Most farmers owned small plots of land and earned less than $50,000 annually from farming. While some sustainable practices had been adopted, a lack of knowledge was a barrier to adopting more. Farmers were highly concerned about input costs and keeping farms in the family. Only about half of farmers expected future generations to be interested in farming. The survey findings can help support small farmers in Kentucky through strategies like education, diversification, and succession planning.
Best Management Practices Adoption Status of Small Farmers in Central and Eas...Bijesh Mishra
This document summarizes the results of a survey of Kentucky farmers regarding their adoption of sustainable agriculture practices. Over 1000 surveys were sent out and 230 responses were analyzed with weights applied to adjust for overrepresentation and small sample sizes. The results were mapped by agricultural district in ArcMap. Double stratified sampling was used based on farm sales value and agricultural district. Key findings included the top ten most adopted practices, rates of adoption among different regions and farm sizes, farmer demographics, and main reasons cited for not adopting more sustainable practices.
Mapping Recent Earthquake in Nepal and Its Geospatial ImpactsBijesh Mishra
This document summarizes information about recent earthquakes in Nepal, including the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. It provides background on Nepal's geography and seismology, detailing three main fault lines. The document outlines Nepal's history of earthquakes and why the country is vulnerable. Details are given on the impacts of the 2015 quake such as deaths, injuries, building damage, and livestock losses. Maps show intensity, aftershocks, and relief efforts. International response to the earthquake is also summarized.
Temporal Patterns in the Surface Urban Heat Island Effect and Land Cover Chan...Bijesh Mishra
Urban heat island (UHI) is a term used to describe increased surface and atmospheric temperatures in an urban core relative to surrounding non-urbanized areas mostly due to the conversion of natural surfaces into the built surfaces. Though the phenomenon has been studied in great extent in several cities throughout the world, the phenomenon is less understood for Kathmandu, and thus little documented in researches. This study uses the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS) 8-day, 1000-meter product (MYD11A2) to estimate the spatial distribution of surface temperatures and the MODISderived Normalized Vegetation Index (MYD17A2) to quantify the pattern of land surface temperature throughout the year in different land cover types and its spatial correlation with the NDVI for the year of 2000 and 2016. Results suggest that the urban surface temperatures are consistently higher than non-urban areas. However, the rate of increase in temperature is higher in outside the urban area. Also, the NDVI is not spatially coincident with the land surface temperature.
Adoption of Sustainable Agriculture Practices among Kentucky Farmers and Thei...Bijesh Mishra
The adoption of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) has been very helpful to attain agricultural sustainability. However, practices are localized and site specific and, thus, less understood in Kentucky. A research was conducted throughout the Kentucky using double stratified survey method to understand farmer’s perception about their farm and farming practices sustainability, adoption of sustainable agriculture practices (SAPs) and adoption barriers of sustainable agriculture practices. The research found that farmers generally perceive that their farm and farming activities are sustainable. The results of negative binomial regression analysis suggest that row crop growers, farmers in favor of diversification, and formal education level increase probability of SAPs adoption. Vegetable growers, and farmers with irrigation facilities also increase probability of the adoption. Income from agro-tourism, land operated, age are significant variables of the adoption of SAPs in Kentucky. Inadequate knowledge, perceived difficulty of implementation, lack of (adequate) market, negative attitude about technologies, and lack of (appropriate) technologies were major adoption barriers of SAPs in Kentucky.
The Urban Heat Island in Kathmandu from 2000 to 2016Bijesh Mishra
The Urban Heat Island in Kathmandu, Nepal:
Evaluating the Spatial Distribution of Changes in
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and Land
Surface Temperatures 2000 to 2016
Analyzing Farm Productivity of Kentucky using Regression ModelBijesh Mishra
Kentucky is facing decline in farms numbers and farmland
with increasing average size. It suggest that small farmers
are moving away from the farming business and large
farmers are increasing. Kentucky agriculture is based on
small and family farmers as about 90% of farm are owned
by family. The research was done using secondary data to
identify factors responsibilities for agriculture productivity
in Kentucky in changing farming condition. Average farm
size, total irrigated area and farmers average age has
significant effect in farm productivity in Kentucky. Average
years in farming has negative relation with farm
productivity. All other variables have positive relation
though some are not significant.
A comparison of Land Cover Change in Kaski District, NepalBijesh Mishra
Kaski, one the major cities of Nepal, major tourism place and regional headquarter of Western Development
region, attracts large population from surrounding resulting 36.4% increase in population proportion and thus, land cover
is rapidly changing in the area. The research intended to find land cover change over nine years from 2000 to 2009 as well
as possible reason for the land cover change. Landsat images were obtained from USGS Glovis, National boundary data
was clipped and dissolved selecting study area, and demographic data were obtained from Central Bureau of Statistics,
Nepal for the research. Data was analyzed using Supervised Classification method with maximum likelihood parameter.
From the result, it is concluded that the urban area has increased by 47.86% in study area with the decrease in forest area
by 26.25%. The possible reason for the land cover change can be attributed to rapid increase in population growth and
rapid urbanization. Also, decrease in water resource and barren land can also be accounted to rapid urbanization and
rapid change in land use pattern though research provides sufficient room for further research in this area of study
Mapping Recent Earthquake In Nepal and Its Geo-spatial ImpactsBijesh Mishra
Nepal is located in tectonically active zone in-between three main fault lines: The Main Central Thrust, The Main Boundary Fault and The Siwaliks and The Himalayan Frontal Fault running parallel through the country resulting Indian Plate under Eurasian Plate. This country is hit by major earthquakes in every 80 to 100 years resulting into heavy losses of lives, properties and historical and world heritage sites. The story maps developed using ArcGIS online demonstrate the recent 7.6 MW Richter scale earthquake devastated locations and its major destruction in infrastructure, human lives, landscape , and impacts on human settlement and out-migration.
This document provides an overview of soil degradation as presented in a slideshow. It defines soil degradation, outlines its global impacts, and describes various causes and types of degradation including erosion, salinization, contamination, and compaction. The document discusses the impacts of degradation on food production and people, including effects on crop yields, income, migration, and conflict. It presents principles of sustainable soil management including maintaining soil life, organic matter, cover crops, and nutrient levels. Specific management techniques are provided such as conservation tillage, organic farming, and integrated nutrient management. Tools to build soil quality include terracing, contour farming, cover crops, and amendments.
Poultry Breeds and Nutritional Value of EggBijesh Mishra
This document contains information about poultry and egg production in Nepal, as well as details on common chicken breeds raised for both meat and eggs. It provides statistics on the total number of poultry and egg production in the country. Local chicken breeds like Sakini, Ghanti Khuile, and Puwakh Ulte are described. Commercial breeds for both egg and meat production such as New Hampshire, Black Australorp, and Giriraj are also outlined, including characteristics, egg production capacities, and body weights. Nutritional information about eggs is presented along with their health benefits. Finally, ideal qualities for fresh eggs are listed.
1. A Sardarji asks for a green TV from an electronics store clerk.
2. He calls Air India to ask how long a flight to Amritsar takes, and hangs up after being told it would just take a second to check.
3. On a job application, when asked for expected salary he writes "Yes" instead of providing a number amount.
The document expresses the longing and loneliness of someone who has lost a close friend. They know their friend will never return, yet they cannot accept this truth and still see their friend's image everywhere. Though surrounded by crowds, they feel lonely without their friend. They wander in the dream of their past friendship and the blissful days they spent together, but now must endure the endless night of pain without their friend and the love and bonding they shared.
1. Date: October 7, 2012
The Bicycle Thief (Ladri Di Biciclette)
The Bicycle Thief (Italian: Ladri di biciclette) is Italian movie released in 24 Nov, 1948.
Original translation of the Italian title gives name “Bicycle Thieves” but movie is released as
“The Bicycle Thief” in United States, but in UK and in Criterion Collection in North America it’s
released as “Bicycle Thieves”.
Bicycle thief is the best example of Italian neorealism. He has shot on location (not in
studio) and cast only untrained non-actors (Lamberto Maggiorani was a real factory worker).
Maggiorani got opportunity to play after he brought his son to an audition for film. But later-on
8 years old boy Enzo Staiola was casted when De Sica saw 8-years boy watching film production
and helping his father to sell flowers at the street.
This movie has received Academy Honorary Award, 1950 and was deemed as the
greatest film of all time and ranked in sixth position among greatest-ever films by Sight Sound
Magazine’s poll of filmmakers. It’s one of the top ten among the British Film Institute’s List of
the fifty films you should see by the age of fourteen.
Some other awards received by this movie are:
Special Prize of the Jury, 1949 (Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland).
Best Director, Best Film of Any Language, 1949 (National Board of Review, Italy).
Best Foreign Language Film, Italy 1949 (New York Film Critics Circle Awards).
Academy Awards: Nominated, Oscar, Best Writing, Screenplay, 1950.
Golden Wolf for Best Film: 1950 (Bucharest Film Festival).
BAFTA Award, Best Film from any Source, 1990 (British Academy of Film and Television
Arts).
Best European Film (Bedste europæiske film), 1950. Bodil Awards, Denmark.
Golden Globe, Best Foreign Film, 1950 (Golden Globes).
CEC Award, Best Foreign Film (cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain).
Kinema Junpo Award, Best Foreign Language Film, 1951 (Kinema Junpo Awards, Japan,
Tokiyo).
Best Cinematography (Migliore Fotografia), Carlo Montuori.
Best Director (Migliore Regia).
Best Film (Miglior Film a Soggetto).
Best Score (Miglior Commento Musicale), Alessandro Cicognini.
Best Screenplay (Migliore Sceneggiatura), Cesare Zavattini, Vittorio De Sica, Suso Cecchi
d'Amico, Oreste Biancoli, Adolfo Franci, and Gerardo Guerrieri.
2. Best Story (Miglior Soggetto).
The movie is about a poor father who is searching his stolen bicycle in post-World War II
Rome to save his job which is only source to join his hand and mouth. This movie is based on
the novel by Luigi Bartolini which is produced by Cesare Zavattini and directed by Vittorio De
Sica. In this movie Lamberto Maggiorani has played role of father Antonio Ricci and Enzo
Staiola as his plucky young son Bruno Ricci. Lianella Carell has played role of Mrs. Maria Ricci,
Antonio’s wife. Vittorio Antonucci appeared as thief who guides whole story.
Movie Review.
Whole movie revolves around a poor family of Antonio Ricci, who lives with his two sons
and a wife. After World War II, he has to seek a job that supports him to raise his family. In the
crowd of peoples, he got job but he needs to have a bicycle. He told it to his spouse after
returning home. They sold their bed sheet and bought a bicycle. Now he could earn some
money for his family. Antonio could leave his son to school and go to job.
On his first day of job while he was atop a ladder to post movie posters on the wall, his
bicycle got snatched by young boy. He chased the boy, reported to police, told his friend to help
him to search his bicycle. Next day he, his son with his few friends went in search of his bicycle.
They searched everywhere. Also in the Piazza Vittorio market, where stolen goods were sold,
but they became unable to find. While they were losing hope to find the bicycle, luckily they
spot thief giving money to an old man in Porta Portese market. They became unable to catch
the thief. Then after he followed old man and asked about the boy that he was talking with.
Initially that old man refused to tell but later-on after getting little money old man told where
the boy is.
Antonio and his son went to the location given by old man. They caught and inquired
him. The boy acted like he was ill and become fainted. They were thrown off by the trail by
thief’s confederation. Neighbors of the boy tried to beat Antonio for blaming him as thief and
making him faint. Antonio’s son understood the situation and went to call police. After police
has arrived Antonio and police went inside the house of boy in search of bicycle but they were
unable to find even the parts of it. Police asked Antonio if he had any proof or witness. But
Antonio was unable to give proof or witness and police said that he could do nothing.
Antonio returned back. After being sure he won’t find his bicycle, he planned to steal
bicycle. So he gave streetcar fair to his son and told him to wait at Monte Sacro. But he didn’t
become success to steal bicycle. The hue and cry is instantly raised and Bruno, who has missed
the streetcar, was stunned to see his father surrounded and pulled from the bike. The bicycle's
owner slapped the hat from Antonio's head. Antonio was being muscled toward the police
3. station when the owner noticed crying Bruno holding his fathers hand, who was carrying
Antonio's hat. The bicycle owner left him there without taking him to police station. They
walked on slowly amid buffering crowd towards home.
This is the story of the movie “The Bicycle Thief”. It intensely focuses in the life of working class
and their behavior. The movie tries to show being thief is not an interest and supplies the
possible answer of the question ‘what makes a thief?’ The movie tries to show how a person is
bounded by responsibilities of family and what s/he can do to fulfill those responsibilities. To
fulfill the responsibilities s/he has to good or bad job.
Antonio’s’ son, Bruno’s’ role made film more interesting. He ran as fast as father and
walked whole days without eating anything. Bruno looking up at his father to see his stress and
grief and trying to learn what life is makes movies’ climax powerful. Viewers can see the climax
of the movie and grief of father through the eye of his son. Whereas expressing his interest on
learning new things by observing the parts of bicycle carefully and playing with it while
searching bicycle in bicycle shop, looking to food eating by baby of millionaire and playing with
his food while eating represents his childish behavior. In one scene Bruno refused to buy toys
while seller tries to grab his interest toward it. This scene makes us feel that boy has
understood the situation of his family. Also calling police while neighbor of a thief were going to
beat his father makes us easy to imagine how clever the boy is.
Since Antonio is not a professional actor, we can easily predict lack of professionalism in
few scenes. For an example after returning from search of his snatched bicycle just after it’s
stolen, he sat on the ladder and show grief on his face. At that time he can’t express feeling of
grief from inside. That grief seems artificial. But overall acting of him in movie is no doubt best.
He became success to give justice to the role he played. But acting of son is more realistic than
that of father in my view.
Though whole movie makes viewer concentrated, few scenes make us more sensitive.
While wife of Antonio visit to the psychiatric after buying bicycle, Antonio has to wait
downstairs. Later-on he asks his son to look after his bicycle and follow his wife. Viewers think
that his bicycle will be lost here but it doesn’t. While searching bicycle in the Piazza Vittorio
market, where stolen goods were sold, one of the sellers refuse to show serial number of
bicycle he is painting. At this time some sorts of hope can be seen in the eyes of viewers. But
prediction becomes wrong. Such scenes make viewer more sensitive.
Critiques made about films by others:
While releasing this movie in Italy, it was viewed as hostility as it presented Italians in
negative way. Italian critic Guido Aristarco praised it complaining that “sentimentality might at
4. time take the place of artistic emotions.” And Italian neorealist film director Luchino Visconti
said that it was mistake to use professional actor to dub over Lamberto maggiorani’s dialogue
Pierre Leprohon wrote in Cinéma D'Aujourd that "what must not be ignored on the
social level is that the character is shown not at the beginning of a crisis but at its outcome. One
needs only to look at his face, his uncertain gait, his hesitant or fearful attitudes to understand
that Ricci is already a victim, a diminished man who has lost his confidence." Lotte Eisner called
it the best Italian film since World War II and Robert Winnington called it “the most successful
record of any foreign film in British Cinema.” Bosley Crowther, film critic for The New York
Times, wrote, “Again the Italians have sent us a brilliant and devastating film in Vittorio De
Sica’s rueful drama of modern city life, The Bicycle Thief. Widely and fervently heralded by
those who had seen it abroad (where it already has won several prizes at various film festivals),
this heart-tearing picture of frustration, which came to [the World Theater] yesterday, bids fair
to fulfill all the forecasts of its absolute triumph over here. For once more the talented De Sica,
who gave us the shattering Shoeshine, that desperately tragic demonstration of juvenile
corruption in post-war Rome, has laid hold upon and sharply imaged in simple and realistic
terms a major—indeed, a fundamental and universal—dramatic theme. It is the isolation and
loneliness of the little man in this complex social world that is ironically blessed with institutions
to comfort and protect mankind”.
Bob Graham, staff film critic for the San Franscisco Chronicle, gave positive review: "The
roles are played by non-actors, Lamberto Maggiorani as the father and Enzo Staiola as the
solemn boy, who sometimes appears to be a miniature man. They bring a grave dignity to De
Sica's unblinking view of post-war Italy. The wheel of life turns and grinds people down; the
man who was riding high in the morning is brought low by nightfall. It is impossible to imagine
this story in any other form than De Sica's. The new black-and-white print has an extraordinary
range of grey tones that get darker as life closes in".
The movie is also in the Vatican’s Best Films List for portraying humanistic values.
So though both positive and negative critics had been made about the film, no doubt
the movie is best. De Sica has done a great job to give his one of the best in his life. This movie
proves to make good movie we don’t need to copy and cheat ideas of others. We have many
stories in our locality which are enough to produce a good movie. Form this movie Nepalese
movie industries should learn lesson and search ideas and stories that prevails in our society.
They not only touch our heart but also make our movies compete in international market. But
their standard should be maintained and should be in those languages which could be
understood by everyone. We don’t lack stories but we lack research, idea, creativity and
capability in our movie industry.
(This article has been written based on references taken from online and view made
after watching movie by authors.)