This is one of the best studies of post-World War II Italy that you will find, as it’s just a sweeping portrait of unrelenting humanity on the brink of ruin.

| May 27, 2023

[Vittorio] De Sica brings an almost documentary style to capture life in front of his lens, but infused it with an eye toward poetic realism.

| Feb 4, 2023

“The Bicycle Thief” paints a bleak picture of a troubling cycle. It takes abject poverty and theft and links them together to form a depressing revolving door.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Aug 19, 2022

At its most essential, the film cries out with humanity, establishing its place of renown in the highest ranks of international cinema.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 14, 2022

[Bicycle Thieves] does not depend on the mathematical elements of drama, the action does not exist beforehand as if it were an "essence." It follows from the pre-existence of the narrative, it is the "integral" of reality.

| Dec 8, 2021

The story of Bicycle Thieves is simple but the film isn't simple at all. I love that at its heart it is a film about the limits of a man's morality and his relationship with his son.

| Mar 29, 2021

Bicycle Thieves is a wholly satisfying film in that de Sica has so simplified and mastered the mechanics of the job that nothing stands between you and his intention.

| Feb 2, 2021

Deceptively simple, Vittorio De Sica's cinematic masterpiece features unequalled, authentic performances by non-actors.

| Original Score: 10/10 | Aug 3, 2020

So immediate is the reality of its experience that the audience seldom notices the excellence of its directorial craftsmanship.

| Jan 24, 2020

If there ever was a picture whose impact left one realizing that men who are tortured are the same in any country -- this is the movie.

| Oct 30, 2019

A poetic tragi-comedy from Italy, at times recalling the art of Chaplin at his best in its blending of laughter and tears. It was masterfully directed by Vittorio De Sica.

| Oct 9, 2019

Sparse, melancholy, and strikingly real, Bicycle Thieves has the haggard, hangdog feel of a documentary, with a dramatic structure so subtle that its shattering climax almost comes as a blindside.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jun 5, 2019

This gem tells the story of a frantic search bv a man and his son for a stolen bike which provided for the family's existence. It is told with the usual Italian realism, but with unusual excitement.

| Mar 29, 2019

Decades later, you can see the influence of Bicycle Thieves everywhere, in a variety of genres and languages.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 27, 2018

It's not hyperbole to flatly state that this is one of the all-time greats in the annals of cinema; on my own list, only Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal ranks higher when it comes to foreign-language films.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Apr 9, 2016

It has passages of beauty and heartbreak that suggest a genuine humanism that is all too often lacking from movies whose primary goals are to thrill, excite, or otherwise distract from life itself.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 30, 2016

Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves is tender and immediate, a simple tale of a man whose bike is stolenwhen his job and life depends upon it.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 13, 2015

The Bicycle Thief does have a certain ramshackle simplicity, quietness, and even naivete that are not unwelcome as a change from the stunning noise, ingenuity, and sophistication of Hollywood.

| Jan 14, 2013

The work of screenwriter Cesare Zavattini, director Vittorio De Sica, the nonprofessional actors, and many others is so charged with a common purpose that there's no point in even trying to separate their achievements.

| Jan 14, 2013

Undeniably the most important neorealist film after Rossellini's Open City.

| Jan 14, 2013