Sucks to be you...

Painfully real and heartbreaking. The acting and direction are both top notch, this is considered to be a landmark film for very good reason.

Tidy. Hard to find fault as 'The Bicycle Thief' (who is the real thief?) portrays its ideas clearly and easily draws sympathy towards the characters under examination. A very human film.

This film mercilessly wrenches compassion from the viewer. A broad exploration of human nature is built around the deceptively simple premise of a bicyle theft. The masterful film making maximizes the impact of every scene, infusing the film with laughter, anticipation, and sorrow. The relationship between the father and his son is incredible, and contributes to its astounding success.

The films that are universally hailed as best ever, are unequivocally fated to disappoint me, and Bicycle Thieves is one such overpraised film. I do not find that it compares favorably to the early works of Visconti or Fellini, much less does it stand as a universal, all-time favorite for me. Still, despite its flaws (some scenes verge on cheap manipulation), it is an excellent movie that just gets better as it progresses. Its greatest moments are those ambiguous ones that make you feel unsure.

Call me a wuz, that that movie made my guts cringe...

Upon second viewing I disappointedly found most of the film to be a drag, yet there are some genuinely great scenes at the end. The father-son relationship and how it develops is the most remarkable about this film.

A simple, heartbreaking tale about the desperation brought on by poverty. It's also incredibly effective in its use of non-actors. This seems like a movie that people will be able to relate to for a very long time.

Very fine - although I think people interpret the ending as more tragic than it needs to be. It's true that not everything works out perfectly, and life might be hard for a few more years, but then the economy will pick up and Antonio will get to live the life of his dreams after all. Because the film ends where it does, it comes off a bit more pessimistic than was necessary for its purported "realism". Also, the pacing is slow, but taking into account the year it was released, it's still great.

Bicycle Thieves is up there as one of the most touching I've ever seen, yet also incredibly crushing. Very real and human. The ending feels like getting stabbed in the face with a butter knife, translated into upstanding cinema form!

The best moment of italian neorealism,one of the most heartbreaking films ever.

Sad as heck :(