Bicycle Thief

Vittorio De Sica’s seminal film Bicycle Thieves (Ladri Di Biciclette) (Italy, 1948) is regarded as a landmark in “neo-realist” cinema.

But although the film’s subject matter (the post-war struggle of the Italian working class against poverty), narrative (the moral tale of a father providing for his family), and cinematography (using natural light) can truthfully be termed “realist”, De Sica’s powerful image / music montage manipulates the viewer to the same degree as Hollywood cinema.
The cinema can never be “real”.

Collection Ernst & Young, London, UK