The Bicycle Thieves

The Bicycle Thieves (1948)
IMDB #94 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040522/]

The Gist:
This was one of my first forays into Italian Neo-Realism, and it turned out to be one of my favorite films I've seen (at least at first impression). It goes out of its way to create an authentic feeling, and actually borrows a lot of aspects of French Impressionism (ie shooting on location, use of nonactors). However, where the French delved into melodrama, lingering on reaction shots and ignoring plot for angst the Italians take a more subtle approach. The result is a film like The Bicycle Thief, that draws you in to its despair with such a force of empathetic engagement that by the end of the film you feel such anxiety and worry for the characters. I found as the film went on I was leaning further and further out of my seat, and the climax of the film was just...heartbreaking. It left a great impression, the film is near perfect.