Ladri di biciclette [Bicycle Thieves]

Vittorio De Sica (1948)

In conjunction with the exhibition NeoRealismo: The New Image in Italy, 1932-1960

Ladri di biciclette [Bicycle Thieves]
(Italy, 1948, 89 min.)
In ITALIAN with ENGLISH subtitles

Directed by Vittorio De Sica
Starring Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola

Introduced by Ara Merjian, NYU.

Hailed as one of the greatest movies ever made, Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves (1948) defined an era in cinema. In poverty-stricken postwar Rome, a man is on his first day of a new job—which offers the hope of salvation for his desperate family—when his bicycle, which he needs for work, is stolen. With his young son in tow, he sets out to track down the thief. Simply constructed and rich in human insight, Bicycle Thieves embodies the greatest strengths of Italian neorealism: emotional clarity, social rectitude, and brutal honesty. Criterion Collection, 4K restoration.

Co-sponsored by NYU’s Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò; Center for Applied Liberal Arts, School of Professional Studies; and Grey Art Gallery. Co-presented by The Criterion Collection.

From the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo.