The Bicycle Thief (Vittorio De Sica, 1948)

The Bicycle Thief is a gem attributed to the Italian Neo-realist movement. The film shows the creative bankruptcy of today's filmmakers. The film is slender and poetic. It tells a story that has universal appeal and is sure to touch hearts of all who have suffered misfortune and misery in a treacherous world, even once in their lifetime. By the measure of that metric only, the film is applicable to all. The beauty of the film lies in the simplicity of its screenplay. It shows how simplicity can achieve greatness, save the obfuscations of most modern day crap. The screenplay is not charmingly witty, not philosophically deep, not characteristically complex, not contemplatively silent. It is intensely emotional (without overdoing it) and fiercely personal. The story is rather simple: in post-World War Two Rome, Italy, jobs are scarce, and Antonio Ricci finally gets a job offer, as a billboard sign man, posting billboards about town, after waiting for months in front of the downtown labor office. One catch, he needs a bicycle. He has one, but it’s at a pawnshop. His wife, Maria, sells their good bedsheets so Antonio can get back his bike. The job is apparently a good one, as other workers anxiously vie for the job. Antonio suddenly feels human and dignified again, wearing a uniform, and being able to make money. Yet, on his first day at work, while pasting posters, his bike is stolen by a young man. Antonio has the weekend to get the bicycle back, so he can report to work on Monday with it. He gets his acquaintance, Baiocco, a garbageman, to help him look for the bike the next morning, along with some of his pals in the garbage company. But it is to no avail, so they keep on searching, and Antonio and Bruno have a number of encounters, such as seeing the thief with an old man, whom they track down to a church, but the old con man gives Antonio the slip, by saying he wants some of the free soup the church is offering. They do get a tentative address of the thief, and eventually Antonio catches up with him, and forces him back to his apartment, where his mother and neighbors declare him a good boy, an innocent. The vile wolfpack mentality closes in, and the thief plays his false innocence to the hilt, like the true professional grifter he is- likely having sold the bike already to another pawnshop, as a policeman is powerless to do anything, after they search the thief’s apartment. Antonio and Bruno eventually end up outside a soccer match, where hundreds of bikes are parked. He sees one in an alleyway, and, in a scene that shows a human desperation and honesty that are too often overlooked in art, Antonio gives Bruno some money to take a trolley home, and decides to steal the bike in the alley. Of course, he almost falls as he tries to pedal away, and the bike’s owner raises alarums, and this man’s neighbors chase and quickly capture Antonio- who is now pilloried as a bicycle thief, and a low man. He is so ashamed and without that he cannot even say a word. He is totally humiliated- all his honesty, honor, and playing by the rules have forced him into doing something wrong, and Bruno, who stayed behind, witnesses his father’s capture, runs to him, and weeps. The old man, whose bike it was, decides not to press charges, possibly out of pity for Antonio’s humiliation in front of his son, and Antonio walks away with his son, both weeping, yet hand in hand, having been defeated inside and out. Reputedly, none of the film’s actors were professionals, at the time. Antonio comes across so realistically, and wholly believably. Bruno is magnificent. He is wisecracking, but not in the annoying way Hollywood smart aleck kids are. There are numerous scenes that pinpoint the director's keen eye for details and highlight his tendency to maintain a desired balance between personal loss and humor, which relieves the viewer. Many critics have concluded that in The Bicycle Thief De Sica has tried to show that good and evil are relative. But nothing can be farthest from the truth. For instance, we know, all along, that the young professional thief would likely be a con man regardless as all of his neighbors are cheats and liars, and even his mother lies for her clearly guilty son. De Sica wants us to remind that sometimes evil can be born not out of pure evil, greed, and compulsive characteristic flaws, but can be born of different circumstances like desperation and poverty, as with Antonio. The Bicycle Thief is great art. It is not a political manifesto as many critics have vehemently suggested.The Bicycle Thief tells a simple tale, but it documents the crushing of the human spirit at the hands of poverty, indifference and misery.

The Man from London (Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky, 2007)

After the more complicated narratives of Satantango and Werckmeister Harmonies, Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr reduces down a Georges Simenon novel to a few elemental essentials the center of which deals with a railway worker in a musty and run down port town, who witnesses a murder while stationed on a tower and then stumbles into a stack of cash. The Man from London is about staring, listening, and living with a guilt-ridden heart accompanied by a suggestive minimalist soundtrack and ravishing black-and-white cinematography. Tarr's superglacial camera movements and long-drawn-out shots generate a hypnotic sense of curiosity, giving us enough moments to think and always implying far more than they show. The Man from London is grave and intense, but not particularly involving, and its hard to evaluate the actors work because theyre given so little to say. Like all of Tarr's films, The Man from London is an auteurist creation par excellence, with Tarr in complete control of space, light, sound, and camera movement. But the sum of all turns out to be a test of viewers threshold of tolerance. The Man from London wished to explore some existential concerns other than offer a compact, emotionally capricious, and somber piece in which the aesthetics occupy center stage at the expense of substance.

The Wrong Man (Alfred Hitchcock, 1956)

This film is based on a real-life incident in the New York City, and Hitchcock's first flight to believably portray a real-life event on the silver screen. A musician when back from his work on a fateful night is accosted by men who dragged him to a number of different  places. In each place they asked, "Is this the man? Is this the man?"He was then arrested for several robberies. Although he was completely innocent, he had to go through a trial, and by its end his wife had lost her mind. During the legal proceedings, a small infringement of the ritual caused a mistrial. As the preparations for a new trial were being made, the real culprit was arrested and he confessed. The film was shown from the point of view of the innocent man. Hitchcock has never been more himself than in this film, which nevertheless runs the risk of disappointing lovers of suspense and of English humor. There is very little suspense in it and there is no humor. The Wrong Man is Hitchcock's most stripped-down film. It is the roast without the gravy. The film is shot inexpensively in the street, subway, the places where the action really occurred. It;s because he knew that he was making a difficult and relatively less commercial film than he usually does. His concern was visible when he warned us before the title of the film was showed that what he was offering this time was something different, a drama based on fact. Henry Fonda is impressive, expressionless, almost immobile. Fonda is only a look. Never was Fonda so fine, so grand, and noble as in this film where he has only to present his honest man's face, just barely lit with a sad, an almost transparent, expression. Hitchcock almost made it impossible for the spectator to identify with the drama's hero; we are limited to the role of witnesses. We are at Fonda's side throughout, in his cell, in his home, in the car, on the street, but we are never in his place. That is an innovation in Hitchcock's work, since the suspense of his other films was based precisely on identification. The film's climax is based on a coincidence that makes scrupulous screenwriters scream. That is, when Fonda cannot prove his innocence, his mother tells him: "You should pray." So Fonda kneels down before a statue of Jesus Christ and prays. There is a close-up of Christ, a dissolve, and then a shot in the street that shows a man who resembles Fonda walking toward the camera until the frame catches him in a close-up with his face and Fonda's superimposed. This is certainly the most beautiful shot in the film and it summarizes all of it. It is the transfer of culpability, the theme of the double, a theme present if many of Hitchcock's films. Hitchcock offers a film about the role of an accused man, and the fragility of human testimony and justice. It has nothing in common with the actual incident of the New York City except its pessimism, appearance, and skepticism. In any case, it is one of Hitchcock's best films, the one that goes farthest in the direction he chose long ago.

Alfred Hitchcock (1899–1980)

There are two kinds of directors: those who have the public in mind when they conceive and make their films and those who don't consider the public at all. For the former, cinema is an art of spectacle; for the latter, it is an individual adventure. There is nothing intrinsically better about one or the other; it's simply a matter of different approaches. For Hitchcock, films are meant for the public. He made movies for the public.

Alfred Hitchcock, often dubbed as the master of suspense, is a remarkably intelligent director. Right from the start of his career in England, he had formed the habit of predicting each aspect of his films. All his life he has worked to make his own tastes coincide with the public's, emphasizing humor in his English period and suspense in his American period. This dosage of humor and suspense has made Hitchcock one of the most commercial directors in the world. It is the strict demands he makes on himself and on his art that have made him a great director. 

Let me first start with two quotes that hopefully capture Hitchcock's motives behind his style of filmmaking:

• On the length of movies: "The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder"

• On his mission in life:
"to simply scare the hell out of people."

Hitchcock, as many of us are aware of, started his career in England and then took American citizenship and started his illustrative career in the Hollywood. His filmography is given below:

The Silent Years

1925            The Pleasure Garden

1927            The Mountain Eagle

1927            The Lodger

1927            Downhill

1927            Easy Virtue

1927            The Ring

1928            Champagne

1928            The Farmer's Wife

1929            The Manxman

The British Classics

1929            Blackmail

1930            Juno and the Paycock

1930            Murder!

1931            The Skin Game

1932            Number Seventeen

1932            Rich and Strange

1934            The Man Who Knew Too Much

1934            Waltzes From Vienna

1935            The 39 Steps

1936            Sabotage

1936            Secret Agent

1937            Young and Innocent

1938            The Lady Vanishes

1939            Jamaica Inn

1940            Foreign Correspondent

Vintage Hollywood

1940            Rebecca

1941            Mr. and Mrs. Smith

1941            Suspicion

1942            Saboteur

The War Years

1943            Shadow of a Doubt

1944            Lifeboat

1945            Spellbound

              

Perfecting the Art

1946            Notorious

1948            The Paradine Case

1948            Rope

1949            Under Capricorn

1950            Stage Fright

              

The Fourth Decade

1951            Strangers on a Train

1953            I Confess

1954            Dial "M" for Murder

1954            Rear Window

              

The Master of Suspense

1955            To Catch a Thief

1955            The Trouble with Harry

1956            The Man Who KnewToo Much (remake)

1956            The Wrong Man

1958            Vertigo

1959            North by Northwest

1960            Psycho

             

The Grand Old Man

1963            The Birds

1964            Marnie

1966            Torn Curtain

1969            Topaz

              

Coming Home

1972            Frenzy

1976            Family Plot

There are many widely distributed sources where one will come across Hitchcock's style of moviemaking. The following video summarizes some of these elements, even though it is far from being adequate:

In the following video, the master of suspense describes his  "Theory of Bomb" that lies at the heart of his filmmaking style. 

In yet another video, posted below, Hitchcock defines the idea of a McGuffin, a ploy by the director to sustain the suspense, first introduced by Hitchcock. 

The last video clip traces Hitchcock in all of his cameo appearances:

My Favorites (not necessarily in this order):

Frenzy (1972)
Overview: Hitchcock in full gear, telling story of London strangler and innocent man suspected of murder spree. All Hitchcock elements are here, including black humor and several astounding camera shots.

Strangers on a train (1951)
Overview: Walker gives his finest performance as psychopath involved with tennis star Granger in 'exchange murders'. First - class Hitchcock, based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith.

Dial M for murder (1954)
Overview: Frederick Knott's suspence play of man plotting wife's murder and subsequent police investigation; stagey at times but slick and entertaining.

Rear window (1954)
Overview: One of Hitchcocks most stylish thrillers has photographer Stewart confined to his wheelchair in his apartment, using binoculars to spy on the neighbors, and discovering a possible murder.

To catch a thief (1955)
Overview: The French Riviera serves as a picturesque backdrop for this entertaining Hitchcock with Grant as reformed cat burglar suspected in new wave of jewel robberies.

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Overview: Hitchcock's remake of his 1934 film is disappointing. Doris Day's "Que Sera Sera" won the Best Song Oscar.

Vertigo (1958)
Overview: One of Hitchcock's most discussed films. Retired police detective who has fear of heights, is hired by old school friend to keep an eye on his wife, eventually falls in love with her and that's just the beginning. Haunting, dream - like thriller.

North by northwest North by Northwest (1959)
Overview: Quintessential Hitchcock comedy - thriller, with bewildering ad - man Grant chased cross country by spies (who think he is a double agent). One memorable scene after another.

Psycho (1960)
Overview: The master's most notorious film is still terrifying after all these years.

The birds (1963)
Overview: Hitchcock's classic about a woman and mass bird attacks that follow her around isolated California community.

Marnie (1964)
Overview: This story of a habitual thief whose employer is determined to understand her illness was considered a misfire in 1964 but there's more than meets the eye.

Topaz (1969)
Overview: French Intelligence agent works with American to dig out info on Russia's involvement in Cuba. Good but also not a great Hitchcock.

Rebecca Rebecca (1940)
Overview: Hitchcock's first American movie about a girl who marries British nobleman but lives shadow of his former wife. Academy Award winner for "Best picture" and "Cinematography".

Shadow of a doubt (1943)
Overview: Perceptive Americana intertwined with story of young girl who slowely comes to realize her beloved uncle is really the "merry widow murderer".

The man who knew Too Much (1934)
Overview: Young girl is kidnapped to prevent her parents from revealing what they've learned about assassination plot.

The 39 steps (1935)
Overview: Classic Hitchcock mystery with overtones of light comedy and romance, as innocent Donat is pulled into spy - ring activities.


Most common elements of a Hitchcockian film:

• Hitchcock used the theory of proximity, by "proper" placement of camera to plan out each scene. These varations are a way of controlling when the audience feels intensity, or relaxation. Hitchcock compared this to a composer writing a music score - except instead of playing instruments, he's playing the audience. 
• The camera should take on human qualities and roam around playfully looking for something suspicious in a room. This allows the audience to feel like they are involved in uncovering the story. Scenes can often begin by panning a room showing close-ups of objects that explain plot elements. An example is here:

• Hitchcock said the following: "People don’t always express their inner thoughts to one another," said Hitchcock, "a conversation may be quite trivial, but often the eyes will reveal what a person thinks or needs.” The focus of the scene should never be on what the characters are actually saying. Have something else going on. Resort to dialogue only when it’s impossible to do otherwise. In other words we don’t have pages to fill, or pages from a typewriter to fill, we have a rectangular screen in a movie house."
• Putting an idea into the mind of the character without explaining it in dialogue is done by using a point-of-view shot sequence. This is subjective cinema. You take the eyes of the characters and add something for them to look at. You can edit back and forth between the character and the subject as many times as you want to build tension. The audience won't get bored. This is the most powerful form of cinema, even more important than acting. This is what Hitchcock calls "pure cinema.
• Divide action into a series of close-ups (Montage editing) shown in succession. Don't avoid this basic technique. This is not the same as throwing together random shots into a fight sequence to create confusion. Instead, carfully chose a close-up of a hand, an arm, a face, a gun falling to the floor - tie them all together to tell a story. In this way you can portray an event by showing various pieces of it and having control over the timing. You can also hide parts of the event so that the mind of the audience is engaged.  Hitchcock said this was "transferring the menace from the screen into the mind of the audience."  The famous shower scene in Psycho uses montage to hide the violence. You never see the knife hitting Janet Leigh. The impression of violence is done with quick editing, and the killing takes place inside the viewer's head rather than the screen. Also important is knowing when not to cut. Basic rule: anytime something important happens, show it in a close-up. Make sure the audience can see it. 
• Make all of your characters the exact opposite of what the audience expects in a movie. Turn dumb blondes into smart blondes, give the Cuban guy a French accent, and the criminals must be rich and successful. They should have unexpected personalities, making decisions on a whim rather than what previous buildup would suggest. These sort of ironic characters make them more realistic to the audience, and much more ripe for something to happen to them. Hitchcock criminals tend to be wealthy upper class citizens whom you’d never suspect, the policeman and politicians are usually the bumbling fools, the innocent are accused, and the villains get away with everything because nobody suspects them. They surprise you at every step of the plot. 
• "Information" is essential to Hitchcock suspense; showing the audience what the characters don’t see. If something is about to harm the characters, show it at beginning of the scene and let the scene play out as normal. Constant reminders of this looming danger will build suspense. But remember - the suspense is not in the mind of the character. They must be completely unaware of it. 
• Create situations of irony. While working on a screenplay Hitchcock would often ask, “Now wouldn’t this be a funny way to kill him off?” He built his stories around ironic situations. He liked to play practical jokes on the characters, putting them through the worst possible things that could go wrong. In the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "One More Mile to Go" (1957, directed by Hitchcock) a policeman has stopped a man because of a burnt out tail light on his car, completely unaware there is a dead body in the trunk. The more obsessed this policeman gets with fixing the light, the more uneasy the murderer gets. Hitchcock pushes this situation to the level of unbearable absurdity as the policeman continues worrying about the light, and gets closer and closer to noticing the body. North By Northwest (1959) places Cary Grant in an open field on a sunny day, where he is then chased by an airplane. “I like to take a lurid situation and counterpoint it with understatement,” explained Hitchcock.
• And many others...

Finally Truffaut said of Hitchcock the following: "Hitchcock has long been judged by the flowers he places in the vase. Now we have at least realized that the flowers are always the same, and that his efforts are directed at the shape of the vase and its beauty."