The Bicycle thief

The Bicycle thief – Antonio and Bruno relationship
On one level, the film is about the economical crisis and the unemployment in Italy during the post-war period. It is a society where the poverty drives people to criminal offences. No one seems to care about others because everybody has their own problems. Not even the police are very helpful, when Antonio reports his stolen bike. The only sign of humanity is in the end when the man, from whom Antonio steels the bike, does not want to press charges against him, but seems to feel sorry for him instead. On another level it is a movie showing the relationship between a father and his son, and when a son’s adoration for his father suddenly is being replaced with less admiration and more realism.

Antonio and Bruno are almost together during the entire film. After Antonio gets his bike stolen, Bruno follows him around in the city of Rome to find it again. Before this happens we see that Bruno is trying to be like his father. In the...