Saturday, March 16, 2013

Keep Your Eyes on the Eyes

Bicycle Thieves is not only a movie about looking for a bicycle -- it's also a movie about looking at other people. Many of the most memorable moments of Bicycle Thieves are scenes in which the main characters look at each other: Bruno looking at his father on their way to work, Bruno looking in shock as his father slaps him, Antonio looking in relief as he finds his son. In the final scene of Bicycle Thieves Antonio looked at his son Bruno before his desperate act, and most dramatically Bruno watched Antonio steal a bicycle, get caught and suffer public humiliation. What do these scenes tell us about relationships in the film? About community? About emotions? What about scenes in which a character fails to look at another (as when Bruno falls and Antonio does see it)? What is the significance of the look?

4 comments:

  1. While at first glance, the film Bicycle Thieves appears to be a story about reclaiming a stolen bicycle, at closer inspection, the film seems to share much more; the movie discusses the role of family and the power of familial relationships. Interestingly, much of this discussion is not expressed through words, but by the actions and reactions of the different characters.

    This is is most evident through the relationship of Bruno and Antonio. Through the facial expressions of these characters, the film shares the power of the father- son relationship, and how ironically, pride and love causes Antonio to act in demoralizing and desperate ways. For example, right before Antonio steals the bicycle, he looks at his son. Antonio doesn't want to let his son down and understands that if he doesn't have a bike, he will not have work and thus, will not be able to provide for his family. His glance at his son reinforces these concerns in his head. His unwillingness to let his son down, causes him to act desperately, and steal the bike.

    The relationship between Bruno and Antonio,however, is also what drives Antonio forward after his low point of stealing the bike. Antonio gets caught with the bike, and Bruno watches as his father is humiliated by a mob around him. After Antonio is released and the incident is over, Bruno holds his dad's hand and the two march forward. Antonio learns through these interactions (his son watching him suffer in public and then holding his hand) that Bruno will stick by his side even through the dark times, and the family will make it. Antonio needs this positive reinforcement and support after he reaches his ultimate low of stealing the bike. While these actions seem trivial and insignificant, in truth they are quite the opposite.

    The relationships in the movie are illuminated by the looks and actions between the characters. The interactions demonstrate the power of such relationships, and how one small look can have great implications.

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  2. Facial expressions are very significant in The Bicycle thieves, particularly between father and son. Antonio and Bruno often have limited dialogue in the film, and a lot of their communication is simply through looks and facial expressions. Both of them encourage each other through their glances. Antonio reassures his son that he cares about him by his looks after slapping him. Perhaps more importantly, it is he facial expressions of Bruno that keep Antonio going, and give him at least some hope for the future. For most of the film, when the two of them are searching for the bike, Bruno continually looks up at his father, with a look of angst, but also optimism and trust. I thought that this had two effects on Antonio; one was a feeling of pressure that he had a son and family who was counting on him to come through, find the bike, and succeed. The look also conveyed a feeling of trust that Bruno had faith in Antonio as the man of the house who would take care of him and make sure everything was okay. In the end, it was Bruno's glance at his father that kept him going at the end of the movie. After Bruno sees his father apprehended by the mob, he stares with a look of trauma on his face, and a feeling that he and his father are helpless. But when he picks up Antonio's hat, and Antonio puts it back on, he again looks at him with angst but also trust. This restores Antonio's pride as a man to a degree; and once again reminds him that his son trusts him and that he must find a way to provide for his family. These looks that are exchanged between father and son are more powerful than any dialogue between them, in my opinion. The looks that Antonio and Bruno exchange at the end tell us more about the pressure on the characters than any words they exchange.

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  3. If a viewer watched Bicycle Thieves purely for the plot of reclaiming a stolen bicycle, they would be missing deeper meanings and messages hidden in the movie. Beyond the simple plot of searching for the bike, the film explores the relationships between a father and a son and also the pride of a desperate man. Because there is limited dialogue between the characters, the director shows these relationships and feelings mainly through eye contact.

    For example, for the duration of the film, the father, Antonio, can freely look his son, Bruno, directly in the eye. He feels no shame whatsoever and knows he has the unending respect and love of his son. He maintains this feeling all the way until the end of the film before he attempts to steal the bike. He looks his son in the eye for one last time, knowing that he may lose his trust. This is a powerful scene because it shows that Antonio is so desperate that he is willing to risk the trust and support of his own son in order to provide for his family. This is not an easy decision and the eye contact helps make it more powerful.

    After Antonio tries to steal the bike, he is unable to look his son in the eye, symbolizing Antonio's realization that he failed Bruno and risked their entire relationship. Bruno looks desperately into the eyes of his father, searching for an explanation for why he committed such a foul act, but Antonio can't look down, showing that he really has no explanation rather than pure desperation. Bruno disregards his father’s actions and is able to forgive Antonio as he grabs his father’s hand at the end, showing a son's undying love for his father and giving the viewers a final sliver of hope that the family will be alright.

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  4. Bicycle Thieves is the story of a man on a quest to find his stolen bicycle. It is an example of Italian Neorealism, a film style that stemmed from the end of World War II. During the war, all of the studios in Italy were bombed and as a result these films were the antithesis of a studio production. They were filmed in natural locations, with nonprofessional actors, and told the stories of common people living ordinary lives. Unlike many Hollywood style production that were extremely dialogue based, Bicycle thieves has minimal dialogue and relies on the interaction and looks between the characters to tell the story below the surface. The dialogue does its job of telling the story of a poor man whose only hope was his bicycle, while the interactions between the characters tells the story of hope, defeat, family, and morality. In one glance between a father and a son their relationship becomes transparent to the audience. Bruno’s adoration and belief in his father is never articulated with language but rather communicated through the praising looks he gives him throughout the movie. However, as effective as a look can be, the absence of a glance is even more effective. In the scene before Antonio steals the bike he refuses to look at his son. We see Bruno desperately looking at his father for reassurance and guidance, while Antonio seems isolated and completely inside himself in that moment. So much so that he walks in front of his son, and barely notices when he falls or almost gets hit by a car. The looks and interactions between the characters, or the absence of these, seems magnified by the fact that we are viewing the movie in a different language and therefore our main focus goes to body language and reading the nonverbal communication between the characters

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