Blog 1. The most impressive shot for me in Bicycle Thieves
A bicycle, representing a person, or even the all hope for a family to live, the Italian Neorealism film Bicycle Thieves just tells a story around this hope. The family almost spent all their belongings to buy a new bicycle for Antonio’s job, but it was stolen on the first day of work. Thus, the family’s hope of living also gone with the lost bicycle. Eventually, Antonio decided to steal a bicycle, but unfortunately, he was caught on a spot under the watchful eyes of his son and had been physically and morally humiliated by those present. From the bicycle being stolen to attempting to steal a bicycle, the audience can have a deep sense of how the social environment in that period drove the poor to the brink.
One of the impressive shots for me in the film is that after the bicycle owner decides not to pursue Antonio’s behavior and asks him to take his son away, the father and son walk down the busy street, when Bruno seeing Antonio with tears in his eyes, he gives his hand to Antonio, and then Antonio holds his hand tightly (From 1:27:44 to 1:27:50). Although the shot is only six seconds long, I can feel a lot from it----both despair and hope.
First, the visual effects and sound of the shot are ingenious. The whole scene shows that the father and son walking slowly in the crowd, accompanied by the noisy voices of other people in the street, indicating that they are just two ordinary people among many people walking on the streets of Italy, everyone is seriously talking about their own affairs, no one cares about their experience, and no one knows that Antonio has just been caught because of stealing a bicycle. Furthermore, the noise of conversation is also a reflection of the complex inner emotions of father and son. For Antonio, as a father, he did not set a good example for his son, put down his morality and try to have a bicycle in the measure of stealing, and completely lost his dignity in front of his child. At this moment, he not only feels desperate and helpless for the future livelihood of his family, but also worries that his son may detest him or query him, and he has no face to confront Bruno. For Bruno, it is hard to imagine his father choosing to steal other people’s bicycle, as a five-year-old boy, he might be confused about the correct value judgement, and his father has also fallen from the supremacy in his heart. Also, the combination of the crowd and noisy voice indicates that after the second world war, other people living in Italy may be experiencing similar misfortune like Antonio’s family, struggling to survive in poverty and despair. Moreover, the soundtrack also sounds sorrowful and heavy, the playing of strings and pipes is more capable of presenting the atmosphere of grief and helplessness, and two melodies repeat back and forth, just like the cathartic emotion of Antonio and Bruno.
Second, the director uses the medium shot, not only can make the audience see Bruno’s facial expression clearly, but also when Bruno gives his hands to his father, the audience can naturally focus on their hands, feeling the inner activities of Bruno more easily. Although the director does not film the whole body of Bruno, the audience can see that he almost stumbles while walking. It may be that he does not see the rough road, or he might stumble himself, no matter what situations, it shows Bruno’s extreme concern for his father at that time.
Finally, the performance of the two actors in this shot is very remarkable. When Bruno sees his father with tears in his eyes, he extends his hand to his father without hesitation. At the same time, though the audience cannot see Antonio’s face, he immediately holds his son’s hand, which reflects Antonio is also silently watching Bruno’s every act. During these short six seconds, Bruno looks at his father many times with worry and trepidation, particularly after nearly tripping, the instinctive reaction of most people is to look back or lower their heads to see what is tripping them, however, without looking at the road, Bruno looks at his father again, seems to want to know whether Antonio’s mood will be relieved a little after he holds his hand. At this moment, the five-year-old boy just like a little angel, he always wants to help his father, but there is nothing he could do except warm his father with his little heart, as if telling his father that he will face difficulties with him and there still exits hope in life. Furthermore, Cardullo (2011) pointed out that it is the most solemn symbol of the relation between the father and his son: one that makes them equals. Indeed, the father cries like a child, while the child holds his hand like an adult, the scene not only adds to the tragedy of the film, but also reflects that the father and the son can support each other.
The film does not have a satisfactory ending, Antonio’s bicycle is not found, which means he is unemployed again and the family’s life might get more difficult. Worse more, he loses his dignity in front of Bruno and does not set a good example for his son. However, when he does not know how to face his son, Bruno holds out his hand firmly, showing that the father and the son could cover each other and carry on with their lives. As long as the family is still in, then no matter how difficult life is, there will have hope in the heart.
Blog2. Rosetta and Unemployment issue in Belgium
In the late 1970s, the majority of developed countries have entered the post-industrial era. Knowledge and technology became the most advantageous tool, and those people who were well-educated and had technical expertise were much easier to acquire attention in society. However, due to the restriction of the knowledge level, these working-class people were difficult to integrate into society and found their proper positions during that period. As a result of the social transformation, unemployment became the most severe social issue in that period, and there were a great number of working-class common people had a tough life. Belgium was one of the counties with the highest unemployment rate in Europe. In 1976, the number of unemployed persons was about 267000, with an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent; in 1977, it soared to about 308000 people and the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent, and it grew increasingly worse. (Liu, 1979). The Dardennes, the directors of Rosetta, lived in the most industrialized town in Belgium---Seraing. At that period, Seraing faced industrial adjustment and restructuring, factories closed, workers lost their jobs, air pollution, the food and clothing issues of public, social security issues followed. The Dardennes always focused their camera on Seraing, reflecting the real social conditions and significant problems such as the unemployment of workers.
Rosetta is the most representative film of The Dardennes, it tells the story of an unemployed girl who had to travel around to find a stable job, and even betrayed her only friend to have a job, finally, she was saved by the friend at the edge of breakdown. In Belgium, many poor people lived in trailers in the suburbs because the accommodation is relatively cheap, and it is also the home of the girl called Rosetta and her alcoholic, self-abandonment mother, indicating that they only have one more layer of iron shelter than homeless people. If Rosetta cannot get a stable job and integrate into society, it means that they will lose their trailer home. The film does not have many lines, The Dardennes just use the camera to record the life of Rosetta. Also, the tone of the film is very gloomy, and the streetscape clearly shows the scene of the old industrial city. Thus, both the streetscape and Rosetta spares no effort to get a job are the real reflection of social situations in Belgium---After the upheavals of eastern Europe from the 1980s to 1990s, great deal countries had changed from socialism to capitalism, leading to increased social competitiveness and higher unemployment rate, making it difficult for some people to find their positions in society and further resulted in the tough lives.
As the only protagonist of the film, facing every unemployment, Rosetta tries her best to resist. At the beginning of the film, The Dardennes shows Rosetta’s confrontation with the superior and polices because she is fired for no reason. To keep her job, she questions her colleagues and boss loudly, and grabs the door when she is taken away by the police, struggling to resist as hard as she can. The scene reveals Rosetta’s real situation and reaction to the dismissal, which truly shows the working-class group lacks insecurity due to the instability of their lives, and the fate of them was completely in control of the upper classes. In the face of the violence from the superior and polices, she also resists in a violent way, which reflects the working class is not reconciled with the situation and their struggle to find a position in society. Moreover, at the end of the film, Rosetta decides to quit her job at the muffin shop, which is also a manifestation of resistance. As Mai (2010, p.80) pointed out that “her act of quitting her job is both an acceptance of personal responsibility and a refusal to work in the system.” Although she gets the job, when she comes home and sees her mother who is still in depravity, she finds that her life has no change and cannot see any hope, coupled with she thinks of betraying Riquet, she eventually chooses to resign, giving up the job that has snatched from Riquet, which also shows her dissatisfaction and rejection of the jobs that can be acquired unscrupulously in society.
The film Rosetta aroused a great response from all walks of life and made the government of Belgium realize the seriousness of youth unemployment. According to Delbar (1999, as cited in Park, 2012, p. 138), the Belgian government regarded Rosetta as representing a national crisis, has passed a bill against the under-employment of teenagers, and called it the ‘Rosetta Plan’. Moreover, at the time the film was made, the statute was already in the form of a bill prohibiting employers from paying less than the minimum wage to teenage employees, and decrees young employees to earn no less than 3 percent of the minimum wage in any workforce comprising more than fifty workers (Mosley, 2013). The establishment of ‘Rosetta Plan’ made a great contribution to teenage employment, according to Liu and Lin (2016), the survey results of the Belgian Labor Inspection Commission in July 2010 shows that the ‘Rosetta Plan’ not only helped more than 4 percent of youth unemployed to find jobs, but also reduced employment problems of long-term unemployed youth and solved the problems of discrimination and unequal treatment of young workers by employers.
Therefore, the shooting of Rosetta has a historic significance for Belgium. The establishment of relevant legislation has changed the employment situation of young people and helped them better integrate into society. Through presenting the tough situations of Rosetta, The Dardennes viewed the situation of people living under pressure in Belgium like Rosetta, showing their deep humanistic care for the social working-class group in the social bottom and deep thinking about severe social issues, it also became the representative film style of The Dardennes.
Reference list
Cardullo, B. (2011).André Bazin and Italian Neorealism.New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Liu, Y, J. (1979).比利时解决失业问题的措施[The Measures of Belgium to Solve the Unemployment Problem)].China’s Labor, (1), pp.32.
Doi：CNKI:SUN:LDKX.0.1979-01-021
Liu, Y. R.,& Lin, B. (2016, May 11).比利时的就业扶持计划[Employment Support Schemes in Belgium].China Personnel News Agency. Retrieved from：
http://www.zuzhirenshi.com/dianzibao/2016-05-11/7/5bffd4af-d5c8-4e2f-9362-67266c5ad882.htm
Mai, J. (2010).Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.Urbana, Chicago and Springfield: University of Illinois Press.
Mosley, P. (2013).the cinema of THE DARDENNE BROTHERS responsible realism.Series in Directors’ Cuts. London and New York: Wallflower Press.
Park, E. J. (2012). The politics of friendship and paternity: The dardenne brothers’ Rosetta. Studies in French Cinema, 12(2), 137-149. Doi: 10.1386/sfc.12.2.137_1
