Between 1944 and 1952 there was a movement called Italian Neo-Realism. This movement displayed stories that revolved around people living in poverty from the working class. Vittorio De Sica’s Italian film The Bicycle Thief created in 1948 is considered one of the best films ever shown during that period. The classical Hollywood style is one of the movements that we’re all familiar with. For example compared to other movements, Classical Hollywood style has a fundamental feature called continuity editing, where everything runs chronologically relating to the cause and effect of chain events. In Vittorio De Sicas’ The Bicycle Thief there are many differences in term of film language and narrative structure. Like the setting where everything is normally shot on location, the mise en scene with the use of non professional actors and the radical difference that there is no guarantee that the main character could respond to the demands of a situation and change it.
In The Bicycle Thief, one of the main differences from Hollywood Classical narrative is the mise en scene. Everything was always shot on location. At the very beginning of the film, the scene is shot in front of the unemployment office where Antonio Ricci is being told that there’s a job opening for him. The viewer can clearly state that this is shot outside, compared to the Hollywood Classical style where everything was shot in studios. Another aspect is the use of non professional actors like Lamberto Maggiorani who plays the leading role of Antonio Ricci. Before his full-time actor career he was working as a factory