Bicycle Theives: the Unspoken Allure of Communism

Bicycle Thieves: The Unspoken Allure of Communism Bicycle Thieves is an exemplary demonstration of Italian neorealism that seeks to use non-professional actors to illustrate the struggle of average people surviving under a Fascist government. De Sica's use of film techniques such as close-ups heightens the effect of his neo-realist aesthetic, especially seen in his street-level depictions of Rome in the aftermath of World War II. The poverty and despair captured by De Sica's cinematography and narrative choices illustrates that capitalism has failed the Italian people, providing them only with grinding poverty and inward despair.By focusing on the mundane details of a simple man's life, rather than a narrative involving high drama, the film effectively captures the humiliating effects of class disparity while highlighting the role that communism could play in the improvement of life for the Italian people, if only a sense of community could be established. Director Vittorio De Sica u ses Bicycle Thieves as a vehicle in which to stress the burdens faced by the individual in a heartless and uncaring society.He has stated that his aesthetic intention with the film was to â€Å"reintroduce the dramatic into quotidian situations, the marvellous in a little news item [†¦ ] considered by most people throwaway material† (Cheshire), and so too is his main character, Antonio, a throwaway person. As an unemployed person, he has no value to the larger society and no apparent worth to his family as a provider. It is only once he secures a position as a poster-hanger that he begins to see himself as a productive member of society.De Sica illustrates the importance of this job by demonstrating Antonio's increasing desperation when his bicycle–an item he cannot do his job without–is stolen. His neorealistic style stems more from moral imperative than from necessity because, as critic Godfrey Cheshire notes in â€Å"Bicycle Thieves: A Passionate Commit ment to the Real,† the film was not shot in the low-budget style associated with neorealism, and instead was â€Å"mounted by a team of movie professionals working on a budget generous enough to allow for large-scale scenes, hundreds of extras, and even the apparatus necessary to create a fake ainstorm† (Cheshire). However, De Sica manages to retain an atmosphere of true realism that is heightened by scenes carefully chosen to display Antonio's quick downward spiral as he and his son ultimately fail to recover the lost bicycle. This devastating loss propels Antonio into a life of crime, demonstrating that under an uncaring government and without social support, the poor have no choice but to hurt each other for lack of a better outlet, and that those who are stolen from eventually become thieves as well. De Sica creates drama and illustrates his point by putting his protagonist in an unwinnable situation.Although Antonio has been offered a job, he can only take it if he has a bicycle. Due to financial circumstances, the bicycle has been pawned. In this way, De Sica establishes the character of Antonio's wife, Maria, who agrees to pawn their bed sheets to pay for the bicycle. This demonstrates that material comfort is secondary to the security that will come with stable employment. The actors themselves play a huge role in successfully portraying De Sica's message, and he sticks to the requirements of neorealism by using only non-professional actors.As film theorist Andre Bazin states, â€Å"none [of the actors] had the slightest experience in theatre or film. The workman came from the Breda factory, the child was found hanging around in the street, the wife was a journalist† (Bazin). An added level of realism can be found in using average people with faces that show the effects of time and experience. In his essay, â€Å"Bicycle Thieves: Ode to the Common Man. † Charles Burnett notes the effect of De Sica's choice to use non-professi onal actors, writing that â€Å"their faces are so expressive [†¦ ] they seem to be playing themselves† (Burnett).To further this realism, the director takes a similar approach with his background players. For example, in the pawn shop scene the director captures an elderly man with a tired, lined face who is trying, without success, to pawn a pair of binoculars. His expressiveness makes the scene seem more real, squalid, and filled with pain, while also illustrating that the Ricci family are not alone in their poverty. Indeed, the upwards panning shot that displays a towering pile of pawned sheets just like the set that Maria is exchanging for the bicycle, overwhelmingly shows the terrible effect of unrestrained capitalism on the poor.To further show the damage caused by a social and governmental system that doesn't value human needs, De Sica characterizes the upper class as the true villains of the piece. This is seen very clearly while Antonio is fruitlessly searching the stalls filled with disassembled bicycle parts while a good-looking young man blows bubbles into the air, filled with self-satisfaction and utterly unaware of Antonio's total terror. Symbolically, the bicycles can represent both the destruction of his ability to earn a living wage, and his own mental breakdown in having to confront the loss of such a vital mode of transportation.In this scene, also, a pedophile tries to lure Antonio's son, Bruno, into his clutches. Although the scene is populated with passerby, nobody pays any mind to the dangers faced by the vulnerable boy, let alone steps forward to offer assistance. By showing the oblivion of the group, De Sicoemphasizes the isolation of the individual, as well as demonstrating that no one, not even small children, are safe from the avaricious nature of the rich in a society where, as Burnett writes, â€Å"the predators are the rich and disconnected† (Burnett).The gripping conclusion of Bicycle Thieves further demonstr ates how the need to secure employment in order to survive can cause honest people to behave in a dishonest manner. De Sico uses a shot of Antonio sitting outside of a football stadium, hungrily eyeing countless parked bicycles; a temptation that is akin to showing a starving man a plate of food. Through the director's use of close-up shots of Antonio's pained expression, we experience his inner turmoil as morality fights with his baser needs.The climax occurs when he finally tries to steal a bicycle outside of an apartment building and is caught by a group of men who taunt and abuse while Bruno watches in horror. Cheshire writes that this point marks â€Å"where Antonio's solitary ordeal reaches a humiliatingly public climax† (Cheshire), and indeed it is a fitting conclusion for a film that has taken place entirely in the public environment of Rome.By making use of the city streets as his set, and the city's population as his background cast, De Sico manages to show all of t he missed opportunities where Antonio's life could have been changed for the better, were someone to have only taken an interest in his plight. As Bazin states in â€Å"Neorealism and Pure Cinema: The Bicycle Thieves,† â€Å"the thesis implied is wondrously and outrageously simple: in the world where this workman lives, the poor must steal from each other in order to survive.But this thesis is never stated as such, it is just that events are so linked together that they have the appearance of a formal truth while retaining an anecdotal quality† (Bazin). In such a manner, the irony of Antonio's predicament remains subtle, left for the viewer to determine based on their own experiences and observations. De Sico's film is most notable for what it avoids saying about the benefits of communism when held up against a corrupt, bloated style of capitalism that treats the working person as fodder for a greater machine.Rather than treat Bicycle Thieves as a propaganda device for his opinions, the director instead allows the audience to draw their own conclusions based on the realistic information he has provided to them. But the implication of Antonio's struggle is clear: community support is vital for the individual to survive under difficult circumstances. Without a collective group from which to seek solace and assistance in times of trouble, the individual is left as aimless and panicked as Antonio during his solitary and unsuccessful attempt to retrieve his stolen bicycle.Works Cited Bazin, Andre. â€Å"Neorealism and Pure Cinema: The Bicycle Thieves. † Theory Kit. 21 October 2007. Web. 1 May 2011. Bicycle Thieves. Dir. Vittorio De Sica. Perf. Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell. Criterion, 2007. DVD. Burnett, Charles. â€Å"Bicycle Thieves: Ode to the Common Man. † Criterion Film Essays. Criterion. 7 February 2007. Web. 1 May 2011. Cheshire, Godfrey. â€Å"Bicycle Thieves: A Passionate Commitment to the Real. † Cri terion Film Essays. Criterion. 7 February 2007. Web. 1

Causes and Analysis Of Eating Disorders and The Theory of Social Learning

Causes and Analysis Of Eating Disorders and The Theory of Social Learning I was going to write this exercise as a study or a list of facts about the problems caused by eating disorders, and how they effect people of my age. However, I have to decide to give the real facts and feeling that the glossy magazines exclude. For about a year I have had an obsession with my weight and appearances, in many ways it has gradually over take my life, controlling what I do and how I think. Just after the school Christmas holidays I started treading on the â€Å"day deciders†. These small objects would decided whether my day would go well or not, to a person with an eating disorder this block of metal and plastic that tell your weight, controls their day, week and even their month. The text book definition of anorexia is â€Å"A persons who intentionally stave themselves to loss weight†. The text book definition of bulimia is â€Å"A person that removes food from their body with out letting it be thoroughly digested this can be by making themselves sick, using laxatives and over exercising (this can be seen in anorexics as well). They may be the texts books version but they are not anywhere near the truth of the problem. This is my story it is full of the fact and experiences that the books will not tell you. Do not judge me before you have read this. I used to that to people with an eating disorder before, I only hope people will not do that to me. In the beginning, it started with missing the odd breakfast. I had always hated the smell of a cooked breakfast and I stopped touching then at the age of twelve. It was the whole idea of eating the droplets of fat on the plate and what they might do to me when I ate them. Eventually I in had stopped eating anything up to eleven o’clock by the age of fourteen. I used to pretend to have eaten something by swishing a bit of milk and cereal around the bowl – this would fool my mum and it still does. After Christmas 2000 I went on the scales, I notice that my weight had reason to ten stone! The day before we had been talking about our weights at school, my friends were only eight to seven and a half stone, I felt like a freak. In addition, I close friend had call me fat as a joke but it went straight to my heart. So I decide to loss some weight. At this time I just controlled what I ate, I missed lunch a few times and deliberately made myself late for school so I could miss breakfast. By February Half Term, I had lost about a stone. I got talking to a friend who was telling me about her weight and how she felt over weigh, as well. She was going to loss it sensibly though by dieting. People started to come up to me at school and say â€Å"why are you not eating lunch† and â€Å"look at yourself Emily you don’t need to loss weight†. The school had started to notice as my fellow pupils told teaches and they started to hassle me. By the Easter holidays, I had made myself ill. I had caught severe tonsillitis because my immune system was low. I was ill for about three weeks. I decided to stop trying to loss weight. I had internal exams and course work to do; I had to be my best. All this time my parents had not noticed. When the summer holidays had started, I start going out and getting self conscious about my self again. I felt that people saw me as fat. I went away on holiday and I wore a bikini, I again felt that people view me as fat and ugly. When I came back, I promised myself to loss weigh. This is when it stared to get bad. This time I wanted to loss weight without people finding out or bothering me could not stand the attention. In the last term we had, had personal and social education lessons, I knew the two different ways to loss weight anorexia and bulimia. I decided bulimia was the best option. I would be seen eating and psychologically I would see myself as eating. I also started I new eating pattern. I again missed breakfast, but to be seen at school as eating I would occasionally go to lunch (about three times a week) at home I would eat a usual family meal. The key to being bulimic was to drink lots of water. That way it came back up easier as the weight came of a started to feel more comterble about me. I was happier when I was being sick, it gave me a sense of relieve when there was nothing inside me. After about two months, it became an obsession. I would have schedule that I would follow nightly. So my parents would here I turned my music up and the bath water on then, I would then spray p erfume, and after that, I would be sick. After I was sick I would bush my teeth and wash my face this happen for six months and I still do. Just before Christmas, my mum became seriously ill, my life became very emotionally confusing. This did not help with my eating disorder I began to feel that the food I put into my month became he only thing that I could control. My grandparents came up to stay, this inflamed the situation because my grandmother life revolves around food. She did not know about the eating disorder nobody did. The only conversations that the family could have were about food and this was at the dinner table. I soon developed a phobia of eating at the dinner table at home. This phobia still is with me. I also developed a phobia of my grandmother visiting I am afraid that whenever she stay I have to be forced to eat. As my mother stayed in hospital, I became very depressed, and I stopped sleeping as well, this emotional rollercoaster that I went though will be with me for my life. By February my mother had come out of hospital and she was recovering. I began to take control of my life but I could not stop being sick. I did try to stop but it made me angry and irritable. Eventually I broke down at school and I told the friend who had tried to loss weigh by dieting, she had since become anorexia. She told me to tell my mother. I was afraid and ashamed of what she might think of me. I feared that she would see me a failure or attention seeking. I do not want the help. It is up to me to change myself and I do not feel that I am ready to do that. Yet. By writing this down, I wish to tell people that by telling anorexia people to eat or telling bulimic people â€Å"they look great any way† and †that they don’t need to change†. This does not help it just hinders them. People who go round eating chocolate and then say well I will be sick later or say I am anorexia are not the true anorexics and bulimics they are the ones tha t keep quite. I hope this will allow people not to judge people as being strange for having these problems, but to help them and encourage them to sort themselves out. On this page are some facts about eating disorders. Anorexia Surfers intentionally starve themselves. It is commonly found young people around the time of puberty. It involves weight lossat least 15 percent below normal body weight. Many people with the disorder are convinced they are overweight. they become terrified of gaining any weight. People with anorexia continue to think they are overweight even when they are bone-thin. The person suffering from anorexia believes that their body Weight, shape and size is related to how good they feel about themselves and their worth as a human being They refusal to eat in front of others. They often do to strict exercise routines to keep off weight. Not menstruating is a common sign. Men with anorexia often become impotent. Bulimia Bulimia is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating. It appears to be relatively uncommon in men and is common in girls between fifteen to twenty. Dieting behavior usually starts before it. A complex lifestyle may cause an eating disorder behavior There are feelings of isolation, self-deprecating thoughts, depression, and low self-esteem. There is full recognition of the behavior as abnormal.

Company logistic analysis and drawbacks and recomendation Research Proposal - 2

Company logistic analysis and drawbacks and recomendation - Research Proposal Example For the last financial year home depot registered profits of over $4.5 billion. This made the share price to rise from $2.47 to $3.00 per share. In the financial report for the year 2012, it did not include the $145 million tax charge. This was related to the closing of the china store, which affected the share price negatively with a decline of 0.10 earnings per share. The net sale for the year 2012 increased by 62% to $78 billion. This was an increase from the previous year where the earnings were $70 billion. The store sales increased to 4.6% attributed by a 2.9% rise in comparable store average ticket. In addition, the rise in customers in our stores attributed to this increase. The financial year of 2012 had an extra week that increased the net sales by $1.2 billion. This led to an increase of the share earnings by $0.07. The growth in the 2012 financial year is credited to continued focus on the following initiatives. Customer service – continued focus on customer service is driven by philosophies of making an emotive link with the customer. These philosophies are putting the customer first and making the business simple. Home depot has opened new call centers in Utah and Georgia simply to have a more personalized connection with the customers. All these centers have been opened in the last financial year. This has played a major role in increasing the earnings and profit margins for the company. In additions, new wits such as the new arrangement system for secondary and centralized return to seller process has more than 57% of all labor hours dedicated to customer services and by the end of the financial year of 2013 the labor hours will have reached 60%. In addition, other measures will be put in place to ensure complete customer satisfaction. This will lead to increased sales bringing the stock price to a higher price. This will put the stocks in a better position than the

Formal Education Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Formal Education - Assignment Example This essay discusses that in a complex society, committed educational institutions are a requirement, even though Illich (1970) indicates persuasively that they are not. On the other hand, being taught something properly is never better than second-best. The error is always committed by people who recommend ever more accessions to the standard curriculum, like "citizenship", "managing personal relations†. "Pass/Fail† by Linda Pastan You will never graduate From this dream Of blue books. No matter how You succeed awake, Asleep there is a test Waiting to be failed. The dream beckons With two dull pencils, But you haven’t even Taken the course; When you reach for a book - It closes a door In your face; when you conjugate a verb - it is in the wrong language. The above lines from the poem reveal the concealed theme reflecting the real modern trend of learning. The poetess says that man can never free himself from the dreams of success and failure. Both are the two sides of a coin. One ceases to exist in the absence of the other. The dream of passing or failing is something from which we can never free ourselves. So, the right approach is to do and leave it to God. The situation of â€Å"To be or not to be†¦..† is to be entertained by all. Dwindling among things and hanging in the balance will not set us the right path. The subject of success and failure is such that even if we try to forget it and sleep, we are sure to dream about verbs, vocabulary, etc., which will boomerang only for the worst. However, the solution to such problem remains concealed.

How newspapers will use social media and internet to expand readership Term Paper - 1

How newspapers will use social media and internet to expand readership in the future - Term Paper Example avvy world thus, the social media is strong enough to take over the traditional forms of transmission of news like newspapers, radio, television etc due to faster and better communication among people, rapidity of spread of news, an increase in readership, as well as a growing need to adapt and become environment friendly. Newspapers and radio channels are far behind than television today in terms of the spread of news for the sole reason that with the click of a channel or press of a button one can both see or hear the news on the go, as and when it takes place. Newspapers, even though they provide the audience with a chance to spend time reading and enhancing their knowledge, arrive a day later, by which time the person may already be well versed with the news. Newspapers however have a tangible form that many people are attached to and not willing to give up. Yet, it must be understood that newspapers can make use of the social media in order to expand their readership in the future as more and more people are logged onto the internet these days. Students, workers as well as professionals and home makers – almost everyone and anyone have an account on a social networking website. Thus in order to tap the potential, newspapers can exploit these platforms and display their news banner there, a ttracting readers onto their websites and thus help them in enriching themselves by displaying their news. (Rani Malla) Today, a number of newspapers have online editions, like Wall Street Journal and New York Times to name a few; these newspapers put up everything and more on their online versions, where people may subscribe and get hourly updates on the world’s events. Newspapers can also take over social networking websites to attract more readers by creating their pages and groups and involving forums for communication over the news among various people. Moreover, blogs and online journals are encouraged by newspaper reporters and writers in order to increase

Virtual Private Network Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Virtual Private Network - Research Paper Example In the 1990s the most used technologies were frame relay, dial up modems and packet switching. These technologies were very essential for connectivity at the time. The need to have secured connections remotely, like connecting to an organization’s private network grew with time. The idea of having a private leased line could not work therefore bringing the need of having such a connection through the public infrastructure. Early VPNs were complex and expensive and did not make business sense. The advent of newer technologies, as will be looked at in the next section led to simpler virtualization and more expansive uses of VPNs. Technologies The VPN technologies can be widely divided into the secure VPNs, the trusted VPNS and the hybrid VPNs. There are different VPN technologies that are offered by service providers today. These are either layer 2 or layer 3 technologies. Example of the layer 2 trusted VPN technologies are the ATM circuits, the layer 2 frame-overs and the frame relay circuits. An Example of the trusted layer 3 VPN technology is the MPL that is constrained through the BGP. Some service providers offer a wide range of hybrid technologies that have several applications in the current world. It is, however, worth noting that the available VPN hybrid technologies only tend to be secure in the parts that are based on the VPNS alone. Examples of a hybrid VPNs are the technologies run over other VPN technologies that are secured or trusted. In such cases, the hybrid VPN acquires the features of the secured VPN.

6 Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

6 Discussion - Essay Example This goes hand-in-hand with egoism, as the person is only doing something to fully benefit themselves without taking others into concern. Some of the objections to psychological egoism include the fact that some people do act in genuine altruistic ways; there are some cases where people do not have the time to decide who is going to benefit from their actions, they just care about following through with those actions; egoism and altruism are capable of connecting with each other, making in nearly impossible to decide if something was done egoistically or altruistically. Not everyone does something solely to benefit themselves; many of them do act on the best interests of others. Psychological egoism states that people act on for themselves. The majority of people are not that selfish and self-centered, many of them will act in ways that positively affect others without thinking of themselves once. The concept of psychological egoism points to humanity being callous and insensitive to the needs of others, that they could never act to benefit someone other than themselves. This assumption is incorrect - there are numerous people willing to do something for others without being benefited themselves. There are many situations that a person can find themselves in that do not allow them time to think about who they are doing something for, least of all themselves. Some people act on impulse, doing what feels right at the time, or doing what needs to be done, only thinking about the benefits and consequences after the matter. This goes against the fact that psychological egoism attempts to prove that people only think of themselves when acting in any such way. However, there are people who simply find that they do not have the time to fully consider the situation - their main concern is seeing the act through to the end. This often happens during emergencies, such as if a person were to run into oncoming traffic to rescue a