Paul Pedziwiatr

12/9/14

Classics of World CinemaFall 2014

Prof. Renata Jackson

An analysis of the music in Ladri di Biciclette

The Film and Director
After the devastating events of World War II, many soldiers in the
Italian armies returned home to find their jobs displaced, and strained
to make ends meet. Vittorio de Sica captured this despondent reality in
1948 with his classic film Ladri di Biciclette, an iconic representation of
Italian Neorealism. Using nonprofessional actors and shot only onlocation, it captures the everyday struggle of working class families in
the years following the Second World War.
A young man named Antonio Ricci, played by Lamberto
Maggiorani, gets a chance at a job to help support his impoverished,
young family. However, he needs a bicycle to do the work. After his
wife Maria (Lianella Carrell) sells her good linen for enough money to
buy a used bike, Ricci gladly goes to work until his new bicycle is stolen
on the job. After he and his son Bruno (Enzo Staiola) track down the
thief, they are unable to prove to the police he stole the bike, and
return empty-handed. Ricci attempts to steal someone elses bicycle,
but is pursued and caught, bringing shame on him and his son.
The script adheres to many of the tropes found throughout Italian
Neorealist movies. It opposed the ideas of the white telephone
propaganda films from the Mussolini government, and worked to
uncover contemporary issues that had plagued Italy since the end of

the war. The actions of Ricci and his wife are brought about by
desperation to survive in post-war Italy, and to care for their son. At
every turn, it seems as if everyone Ricci meets is against him, and no
one has any sympathy toward him, his family, or their desolate
condition. The lack of sets and professional actors, and the focus on
turning ordinary life into a realistic plot allowed de Sica to create a film
on a level of realism that had never been done before (Ratner, Italian
Neo-realism).
When it was released in Italy, many critics met the film with
disapproval and spite, claiming that it portrayed Italians in too negative
a light. Despite this, the movie has won many important honors in its
lifetime, including and Academy Honorary Award. It was once ranked
as the best film ever created by Sight & Sound, and is on the Vaticans
Best Films List for its display of humanistic values. De Sicas extreme
use

of

realism

has

created

masterwork

that

demonstrates

thematically what can happen when a man is pushed to his limit of

desperation when his fellow brethren refuse to help him survive
(Bicycle Thieves, IMDb).

The Composer and Score

The music that sets the mood for Ladri di Biciclette was written
by Italian composer Alessandro Cicognini. Born January 25, 1906 in
Pascara, Italy, he attended the Milan Conservatory of Music to be

classically trained in composition. Between 1936 and 1993, he

composed 106 movie scores, and Ladri di Biciclette was awarded Best
Soundtrack of the Year. While his arrangements usually employ atypical
instruments, Ladri di Biciclette uses a very traditional score an
instruemhation, probably to achieve the realism that de Sica
admired.
The musical score to Ladri di Biciclette serves as an auditory
window into the neorealist perspective of film, utilizing common Italian
ideas both melodically and harmonically. The rhythms are simple and
regular, and the melodies are expressive with a constant vocal quality
to them. From baroque operas like lOrfeo by Claudio Monteverdi to
recent film scores like The Godfather, the lyrical Italian style of
composition is distinct. This can be heard perfectly during the opening,
where a melancholy, nostalgic melody floats and swells behind the
credits. It is in 3-4 time, which is characteristic of Italians, used to
represent the sad dance that is life in the film. There is also a very
heavy use of strings, a group of instruments that the Italians perfected
after inheriting the basic idea of them from the Byzantine Empire and
Middle East during the Renaissance (Kartomi, On Concepts and
Classifications of Musical Instruments).
This thematic material is repeated many times throughout the
film, and becomes almost a leitmotif for the disappointing struggle that
is Riccis life. When Ricci and Maria return to their apartment, a similar

sad theme played on a high oboe is heard within (Ladri di Biciclette,

5:00). As the scene progresses, the theme is moved to the strings, and
then to a flute. As it does, it becomes hopeful by the time Ricci gets his
bicycle, and becomes mournful again when we see how many people
have given up their linen dowry in these hard times. The music thus is
a literal descriptor of how Ricci and his family feel at any given
moment, and also reminds us that whether they are hopeful or
distraught, they are always Italian.
Cicognini also uses the music in tandem with desperation to
remind us of the cyclical aspect of poverty. There is a point 15:37
where Bruno and Ricci are placed symmetrically in the shot and
dressed exactly the same, then they stuff their egg sandwiches into
their pockets at the same time. We also hear a lighter version of the
main theme that we have been hearing all along. This is a
cinematographic way of telling the audience that Bruno and his father
are intrinsically connected; they are one in the same. This is also
supported by the fact that Bruno has a huge respect for his father and
will do anything is father asks, even after he hits him.
In the very final scene of the film, after the frantic music in the
chase scene after Ricci unsuccessfully steals the bicycle, he and Bruno
walk home tearful and defeated. We hear the sweeping melody that we
have been hearing all along, reminding us how things are just as they
started. One character makes a comment, A fine example you set for

your son, and all of a sudden it is clear that Bruno will probably not be
able to escape poverty, just as his father could not (Ladri di Biciclette).
The repetition of the musical theme reinforces this idea: like the wheels
of a bicycle, Italian life goes in a circle, and the reality is that there is
no escape. The music then, does not only serve to display a mood to
the audience, but is itself part of the theme that desperation and
poverty beget more desperation and poverty.

Conclusion
The musical and literary themes presented by de Sica and
Cicognini in Ladri di Biciclette portray a sad realism in post-war Italy.
Much of the country was in ruins, and that included the economy and
the well-being of the people. By using ideas that are quintessentially
Italian, Cicognini is able to hammer home a brilliant message to the
people of his country and comment on the poor social conditions
without making the statement obvious or trite. The film exemplifies
Italian Neorealism in every way, and is an excellent representation of
the problems in contemporary Italian society.
Bibliography
Bicycle

Thieves.

IMBd:

2014.

Accessed

<http://www.imdb.com /title/tt0040522/>

on:

12/9/14.

Web.

Kartomi, Margaret J. On Concepts and Classifications of Musical

Instruments. Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology, University of
Chicago Press, 1990.
Ladri di Biciclette. Dir. Vittorio de Sica. Perf. Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo
Staiola, Lianella Carell. Ente Nazionale Industrie: 1948. Film.
Ratner, Megan. GreenCine, "Italian Neo-Realism," 2005. Accessed:
12/9/14.