“It Always Rains on Sundays”

Bicycle Thieves, by Vittorio De Sica

Antonio Ricci doesn’t have a job. Since he lives in economically depressed post-WWII Italy, that means he, his wife, and his children are in trouble. However, it seems he finally catches a break: a new job for him…as long as he has a bike.

Here comes the first issue: he doesn’t have one, not at the moment, at least. His bicycle has been pawned. However, his wife exchanges it for their bedsheets.

Everything seems to be on track now: he has a bike and a job. He will now be able to provide for his family.

However, a man steals his bicycle. From then on, we’ll follow Antonio and his son launch a desperate search. They need this bike. Without it, they’ll be no job. Without a job, they’ll be no food for the family.

It is a life and death matter.

In this black and white movie, you won’t find grand speeches, no explosions, no “big” issues…however, it is one of the most exquisite pieces of filmmaking you’ll ever see.

Director Vittorio De Sica achieves something many filmmakers try to but typically fail miserably at: he draws a portrait of humanity.

Antonio, our titular character, doesn’t want to conquer the world, he’s not even that interested in becoming disgustingly wealthy: he just wants a decent job so he can make sure there will be bread on the table.

Nothing more…nothing less.

And yet, in the cruel reality that surrounds him, this simple, basic need, proves hard to be satisfied.

It has been many years since I first watched this movie, but, up to this day, it fills me both with hope and despair. To watch the desperate measures Antonio is willing to go to make sure his family will survive is heartbreaking.

There is love in this story, sure, but we don’t know if that will suffice. Reality has shown us it doesn’t care about happy endings. And, even though this is a work of fiction, anyone who cares to pay attention can tell this story paints a brutally graphic portrait of the struggle millions of people must endure day after day.

All in all, we see there’s nothing ordinary about the everyday life of a person who just wants to make sure his loved ones will be able to eat. Something so basic, taken for granted by so many, and yet, a bleak crusade for so many.

There’s a reason why this 1948 movie remains in the IMDB top 250 (at the moment of writing this piece, it sits comfortably at the #103 spot). The narrative flows effortlessly. Also, the characters are human: they do what an actual person would do; their flaws, an inextricably part of their personality.

This movie has remained in hundreds of Top 100 films for decades. I invite you to find out why. Yes, you’ll likely end up heartbroken, but, hopefully, you will also remember what it is like to look at the people around you and remember they are human, each of them facing a battle of their own.

Even if it is something as trivial as trying to recover an old bicycle.