Characteristics - References to Contemporary National Experiences

In Bicycle Thieves by Vittorio De Sica, Antonio Ricci appears in the first scene where he is offered a job, to put up movie posters. In that scene, many men were fighting over the same job. This scenario/ occasion actually happen after the World War II as times after that were difficult for the survivors. They had to look for jobs which are not available in order to continue surviving.

Antonio holding on to the job.

Neorealist prefer to shoot on location, this making the national experience aspect to look realistic in the film. This factor allows the director to show what was going on in the streets after the war first hand, which makes the film more realistic.

Also in The Bicycle Thieves, director Vittorio has managed to show how corrupted Italy is through displaying the different levels of corruption in the city, from when Antonio’s bike gets stolen, how the policeman takes his case lightly, to him looking for it in Piazza Vittorio until he tracks down and old man which he believes can lead him to the bicycle thieve.