Bicycle Thieves | A Masterpiece Of Highest Order | The Critique

It is difficult to define the purpose of cinema in absolute terms. Probably the most approximate measure is how well a movie presents a story on screen. But that doesn’t highlight the purpose in totality. For good cinema, one of the checkboxes is simplicity. Simplicity is in itself a very complicated idea. It’s a tight rope. These two concepts – purpose and simplicity – are usually least researched aspects in today’s cinema. Bicycle Thieves is one easy reference to understand these two concepts.

Bicycle Thieves is a neo-realistic film. Most of the actors playing part in the film are amateurs. Based on an adapted screenplay of novel, Vittorio De Sica re-invented neo-realism. His interpretation of characters and presentation of the story moved critics and cynics. It is also important to make a note of the era in which the film came out and the effect that factor had on psyche of audience across the globe. The movie was released in 1948. Memories of WWII were fresh and nation was undergoing re-development. International community also saw it as a non-political aspect of war.

Bicycle Thieves is story of a poor man whose lone chance of survival depends on a job that needs a bicycler. He gives away his family’s last proud asset to get his bicycle back from a money lender. As destiny wanted, the bicycle is stolen. Rest constitutes the drama of this iconic film. The man and his young son search for their bicycle but in the end they get nothing. While a ray of hope is visible, it’s at the end of a long tunnel. Film is unapologetic in expressing the plight of the lowest strata of the Italian society (or most of the European countries) after the end of WWII.

Over the time, Bicycle Thieves or The Bicycle Thief earned reputation beyond metric proportions. Connoisseurs across the globe loved it for precise representation of the situation with any unnecessary melodrama. Having untrained amateurs on board earned accolades for the abilities of Sica who had already established his name at international level with his previous film Shoeshine. Sica not only nailed the simplicity aspect of cinema, by presenting an absolutely sympathetic case of poor people he gave a spirit to the film. A fate rarely achieved with perfection.  

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh  

Statesmen: Early Influences and early life of Satyajit Ray

People know a lot about Ray’s biography on bioscope. In this edition of Statesmen let’s read into early life of Ray. How was Ray made?

Ray had three great influences: His ancestry, the Bengal culture and his mother. Ray’s grandfather was a great person of his time. He was Upendrakishore Ray. He was a legendary leader and philosopher of Brahmo Samaj, a great writer and publisher, an illustrator and an amateur astronomer. He published a magazine for children named Sandesh. Ray, later in his life revived the magazine and filled the void of a quality magazine in the segment.

Ray’s father and Upendrakishore Ray’s son was Sukumar Ray. He stood with the repute of a great father. Sukumar Ray was a reputed illustrator, writer and critic. He was a legend as he championed a very complex segment of nonsense rhyme and children literature. Sukumar Ray expired when Satyajit was three years old.

Bengal had a great influence on Ray. He was brought up there and honed his skills there. His passion towards writing and fine arts was largely due to parental genes and the culture-friendly environment of Bengal. Literature of Bengal, rich by any standard, became the base of Ray’s works.

The third influence was the most prominent. His mother Suprabha Ray. After death of Ray’s father, she managed her house with little income she had. However that had little influence on Ray’s education. In Bengal, education is a top priority. Ray studied economics in the Presidency College. After his education at Presidency, his mother sends him to Vishwabharati in Shantiniketan. Ray was reluctant but his resistance was overcome by his mother’s insistence and great respect for Rabindranath Tagore. That decision reaped great yields in Ray’s life.

Love also had a positive influence on Ray’s life. Ray loved Bijoya Das and after a long era of romance married her in 1949. They had a son, Sandip Ray who followed the footsteps of his father and became a film maker.

In 1943, he left Shantiniketan and worked for a British advertising firm and also got involved with Signet Press. With the firm he learnt the skills of visual designer and with Signet he honed his skills as a graphic designer. At Signet he created covers for many books like Maneaters Of Kumaon and Discovery Of India. Meanwhile, he also worked on a children version of Pather Panchali. He loved the work and created the legend on celluloid.

His cinematic journey was begun in 1950 when he went to London at the head office of British firm. There in span of three months he watched ninety nine movies and decided to create the magic on his own. The movie that influenced him most was Bicycle Thieves. He returned and started working on his project Pather Panchali. It was difficult as he was short on funds and the progress of shooting depended on the money on stack. Great contribution of his manager Anil Chowdhury deserves a mention. Both suffered but didn’t compromise. Pather Panchali was released in ’55. Rest is history.

For The Reel; Written By: Ms. Souvika Das (Kolkata)