Cineforum italiano is back! Our teacher Marzia will welcome you in our small and cozy movie theatre in Muiderstraat where you will enjoy old and new masterpieces of Italian cinema. You will be given a small introduction to the film (in Italian and/or in English), and afterwards we will talk about our impressions on what we have just seen, the topics and everything that we feel like worthy of sharing. Ti aspettiamo!

Ladri di biciclette (Vittorio De Sica, 1948)

In Rome the Second World War is just over, Antonio Ricci is desperate for work to support his wife and children. He is offered a job of pasting advertising bills which he only can accept if he has a bicycle. At the cost of a very big economical effort, Antonio purchase a second hand bicycle and can start the job but on his first day of work, the bicycle is snatched by a thief. The film follows Antonio’s adventures chasing the thief and trying to have the bicycle back: without that he will lose the job which was to be the salvation of his young family.

Ladri di biciclette is considered the masterpiece of Italian Neorealismo. In 2002 Sight&Sound ranked it sixth among the greatest-ever films. The film is considered part of the canon of classic cinema. In 1958, Ladri di biciclette was voted number 3 on the prestigious Brussels 12 List at the 1958 World Expo.