What if Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves was made in Hollywood?
It is impossible to answer this question without comparing and contrasting the differences between the Italian and American film industries at the time when Vittorio De Sica’s “Bicycle Thieves” was released. “Bicycle Thieves” was released in 1948 as part of the Italian Neorealist film movement, which was sparked by the fall of Mussolini’s Fascist regime in 1943. Because fascists no longer ruled Italy, directors could create realist cinema. This film movement reflected the conditions of everyday life, the opposite of the films that were being made under fascist rule. Neorealist films depicted poverty and desperation, reflecting changes in the Italian psyche. Stories were set amongst the poor and working-class; the movies often used non-professional actors and were shot on location.
While Italian directors like Vittorio De Sica, Roberto Rossellini, and Luchino Visconti were creating films with a highly critical view of Italian society and the effects of WWII, the American Hollywood Industry was taking a different turn. In the 1940s, major motion picture companies had refined a production system connected to American market conditions. Hollywood was making strides in technical changes; the rise of sound production and film technology like color and specific effects made Hollywood films popular. Like Italian cinema in the 1940s, Hollywood films took a more realistic route in response to the escapist movies of the 1930s. Due to WWII, Hollywood films were extremely patriotic during this time, quite the opposite of neorealist films. American films during this time popularized genres like noir, musicals, and comedies that showed the audience’s desire to move past the war. This decade was also the birth of the auteur, filmmaking led by the director rather than the writer. Influential American auteurs include Orson Welles, Charlie Chaplin, and Alfred Hitchcock.
If “Bicycle Thieves” was made in Hollywood, it would have been a very different film in terms of its story and making. On the technical side, the film most likely would have been shot in a studio set in Los Angeles, California, and would have used all professional actors. The neorealist nature of “Bicycle Thieves” makes for a documentary visual style, avoiding artificial editing, lighting, cinematography, and camerawork. A Hollywood production would have done the opposite of those trademark neorealist thumbprints.
Story-wise, “Bicycle Thieves” relates to and is different from the typical Hollywood narrative structure in many ways. The film focuses on the main character, Antonio Ricci, and his son, Bruno. The film starts as a story about Antonio needing a job but switches to a narrative about Antonio and Bruno trying to find a stolen bicycle. The film is narrative, linear, and highly emotional. Throughout the film, the audience can feel the sadness and desperation of the characters through the screen. Classic Hollywood films also focus on a protagonist in a linear method. Still, De Sica’s film differs from Hollywood movies in the final scene and the moral character arc of Antonio.
The unhappy ending truly sets the film apart from a Hollywood film. Antonio never finds his bike, and his life continues downward. If this film were made in Hollywood, Antonio would have found his bike, and he would happily return home to his family with good news, and the film would end on a high note. Instead, Antonio is forced to walk home with his son, crying, with nothing to offer his struggling family.
Another aspect of the film that would have been different if the film were made in Hollywood is that Antonio’s moral compass would never change. He would have stayed true to what he believed in throughout the film. At the beginning of the movie, Antonio is depicted as a kind man down on his luck, but by the end, he is shown threatening to kill people, becoming hostile toward Bruno, and trying to steal someone else’s bike. In a Hollywood version of the film, Antonio would continue to work through his struggles and not turn to violence and hostility to respond to the sadness of his situation.
While a typical Hollywood film would leave the audience feeling good, this film puts the viewer in an uncomfortable position. There is no closure, and the viewer is forced to ponder if Antonio’s actions are justified knowing his situation and circumstances. Italian neorealist films bring the viewer in on the protagonist’s journey, while Hollywood films are used to escape the hardships of daily life. During the 1940s, American cinema focused on genre, familiar tropes, and marketing, while Italian neorealist films focused on social and economic problems, the value of ordinary people, and the importance of emotion.
