From Martin Scorsese to Anurag Kashyap, several filmmakers have claimed that they are inspired by Bicycle Thieves and Citizen Kane. Even after 70-75 years of their release, they are shown to students at film schools. What makes these movies so good and evergreen? Let’s find out.
There is no denying of the fact that Bicycle Thieves and Citizen Kane are one of the best movies ever made in the history of cinema. These films continue to inspire young generation because of they were ahead of their times.
The greatness of Citizen Kane
In the movie, there is a wonderful scene where we see the bloom of the honeymoon period come off as they sit down to breakfast over time. They go from smiling at each other to barely giving each other a glance. This is one of the most delightful exchanges that combine a swish pan and dissolve to show the passage of time and also the change of priorities of a newlywed couple is highlighted. The transition has been done in a manner depicting their marriage falling apart.
In terms of time we are shown a period of several years of their marriage in a well executed montage and it is shown through the swish pan which establishes the passing of time. It begins with an intimate shot of the newlyweds then goes on rapidly with a series of medium shots and close-ups separated by flash-pans as the physical distance increases punctuated by increasingly more terse comments between the two. It ends with a medium long shot of the couple separated at the opposite ends of an unusually long breakfast table. Even the background music plays a major role as we observe a change in the background music with time.
The marvellous portrayal of reality by Bicycle Thieves
The movie has an unmatchable ability of moving a person into tears. After the fall of fascist regime in Italy, there was a need of such movie. The economic condition of the country was poor and it led to a rise in number of crimes. In the movie, the people who acted were non-actors. They were assembled by the filmmaker as the movie was made on a shoe string budget. The Italian movie, Bicycle Thieves started a revolution in Italy which later transformed into a cinematic movement. The movie relied heavily on realism and was first to showcase the reality of working in Italy.
The movie started a trend of making cinema based on reality, which was totally opposite of German expressionism. It inspired Indian filmmakers like Satyajit Ray and Bimal Roy who then made their own versions of cinema based on the reality.
