As we prepare for our trip to Italy I thought it might be a good idea to Netflix up some Italian movies with subtitles. Easier said than done. Relying on subtitles means you tune out the language, for the most part. I caught a few things here and there but it mostly a wash-out. What was exceptional, though, was the movie. I’d never seen the Vittorio De Sica classic because it’s just one of those things. It’s like the Love in the Time of Cholera that sat on my bookshelf for years because one day I’d get around to it. I am now getting through it, by the way. The Bicycle Thief is a revelation. Ebert wrote quite eloquently about it in this 1999 review and thus, there is nothing I can add to the discussion except that as a sometimes struggling parent I could relate to so much of what the main character was going through as he made it his mission to get his stolen bicycle back. Earlier, Emma and I had watched part of Shakespeare in Love and she was mostly distracted throughout but the Bicycle Thief, with its stark imagery of Rome, that little boy’s sad face, the Italian language running in the background – even if I wasn’t making her watch it with me she would have been interested in it. Movies don’t really cling to my psyche anymore. Maybe it’s because I see so many of them or I fill my consciousness with so many other things – gossip, music, news – that I don’t think much about the movies I’ve seen. This movie was something higher.

You can find anything on YouTube. I managed to find my favorite, and Emma’s favorite, scene in the film. After falsely believing his son had died, the father treats his son to a dinner they can’t afford. The little boy, as you can see, keeps looking over at the rich boy eating his bountiful feast.

The differences between them are suddenly palpable. By the same token, when they visit the boy they think has stolen their bicycle, they are juxtaposed against the poorest of the poor. They are somewhere in between. They are down to selling things for money. All the man needs is a bicycle. It’s the thing that keeps him from living a good life. It is the elusive thing he’ll never get unless he steals one for himself.

I was pleased that Emma did not get bored with The Bicycle Thief. It so easily could have turned out to be disappointing. While it’s a classic, it shouldn’t be dismissed because of that. It deserves a second look, especially at a time when movies are mostly shit. I think I have to wait on Fellini and Bergman but De Sica will do. Boy will he do.