Comparing De Sica's Bicycle Thieves And Saturday Night

With close reference to Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves and ONE film of your own choice, compare the style, themes and goals of Italian neo-realism to another mode of realism. Please note that you should address fictional narratives that create a strong impression of reality, not documentary.

I have chosen to compare De Sica’s Bicycle Theives to the great British classic Saturday Night and Sunday Morning by Karel Reisz. In some ways the British New wave or “kitchen sink” realism movement was influenced and instigated by the post-war Italian Neo-realist films of the late forties and early fifties especially Bicycle Theives (De Sica, 1948, Italy). They are both great examples of social realism at its best and have shaped and influenced many
In the Bicycle Theives (De Sica, 1948, Italy), it starts with the theft of a bicycle and the consequences it has for an ordinary man trying to survive and maintain some sense of moral dignity. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Reisz, 1960, England) tells the story of a young factory worker from Nottingham who has a hostile approach to authority, he spends his money at the weekends, drinking at the pubs, fornicating with co-workers wife and charms a young girl, while coming to terms with the times and the decisions ahead of
In a more direct context, these films where a break away from the cinema that was leaking out of Britain, it was seen as a new approach to cinema in its style and artistic nature that was more custom to European Art Cinema, rather than the solemn ritual of British film making prior. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Reisz, 1960, England) is an excellent example of ‘Kitchen Sink’ realism and emulates many stylistic attributes that are commonly seen in the Bicycle Theives (De Sica, 1948,