Director :   Victtoria De Sica
Producer :   Giuseppe Amato

Censor Rating :   NA

Duration :   93 min

Year of Production :   1948

Genre :   Feature Film

Category :   Classics

 

Synopsis :   

The film tells the story of Antonio Ricci, an unemployed worker who gets a job posting flyers in the depressed post-World War II economy of Italy. To keep the job, he must have a bicycle, so his wife Maria sells her wedding sheets to get the money to get his bicycle from the pawnbroker. Early in the film, the bike is stolen, and Antonio and his son Bruno spend the remainder of the film searching for it. Antonio manages to locate the thief (who had already sold the bicycle) and summons the police, but with no proof and with the thief’s neighbors willing to give him a false alibi, he abandons this cause. Antonio, desperate to keep his job, attempts to steal a bicycle himself…

Awards :   

* Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland: Special Prize of the Jury, Vittorio De Sica; 1949.

* National Board of Review: NBR Award, Best Director, Vittorio De Sica; Best Film (Any Language), Italy; 1949.

* New York Film Critics Circle Awards: NYFCC Award, Best Foreign Language Film, Italy; 1949.

* Academy Awards: Honorary Award, Italy. Voted by the Academy Board of Governors as the most outstanding foreign language film released in the United States during 1949; 1950.

* British Academy of Film and Television Arts: BAFTA Film Award, Best Film from any Source; 1950.

* Bodil Awards, Copenhagen, Denmark: Bodil, Best European Film (Bedste europæiske film), Vittorio De Sica; 1950.

* Golden Globes: Golden Globe, Best Foreign Film, Italy; 1950. Nominations:

* Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Writing, Screenplay, Cesare Zavattini; 1950.