The Bicycle Thieves – Frame by Frame Screening

Not Rated Vittorio De Sica (1948)Bicycle Thieves is presented by The Cary Theater and The Modern School of Film. The Frame by Frame series is presented by The Cary Theater and The Modern School of Film.  The School’s founder, Robert Milazzo, leads an in-depth, active deconstruction and group-discussion. This screening will be the Cary Theater’s first cinema studies series. It was created with the cinephile in mind that wants to delve deeper in the art and craft of film. The active deconstruction format will allow for the instructor to stop the film at points and lead in depth discussions about the techniques being used in the film, as you watch it. Explore the depth and breadth of film as an art form and see films you love in a new way!

The Bicycle Thieves – Directed by Vittorio De Sica (1948)

This landmark Italian neorealist drama became one of the best-known and most widely acclaimed European movies, including a special Academy Award as “most outstanding foreign film” seven years before that Oscar category existed. Written primarily by neorealist pioneer Cesare Zavattini and directed by Vittorio DeSica, also one of the movement’s main forces, the movie featured all the hallmarks of the neorealist style: a simple story about the lives of ordinary people, outdoor shooting and lighting, non-actors mixed together with actors, and a focus on social problems in the aftermath of World War II. Lamberto Maggiorani plays Antonio, an unemployed man who finds a coveted job that requires a bicycle. When it is stolen on his first day of work, Antonio and his young son Bruno begin a frantic search, learning valuable lessons along the way. The movie focuses on both the relationship between the father and the son and the larger framework of poverty and unemployment in postwar Italy. The Bicycle Thief works as a sentimental study of a father and son, a historical document, a social statement, and a record of one of the century’s most influential film movements. (credit: allmovie.com)  

The Modern School of Film  

Before founding the Modern School of Film, Robert directed the award-winning feature “War Eagle” (2007), starring Brian Dennehy, Mare Winningham, Luke Grimes, and Mary Kay Place.  ​​ ​He also directed Mike Myer’s in The Guru Pitka’s Four Laws of Happiness and produced Mr. Myer’s short film directorial debut “Almost Always”. ​He’s taught filmmaking at the prestigious Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, where he founded its first-ever filmmaking program and also taught at Stanford, Rutgers, Hofstra, The New School and the Prague Film School. ​He started his film career as an assistant to the Pulitzer Prize winner playwright and film director David Mamet and Oscar Winning Director Mike Nichols.  

What people are saying about The Modern School of Film:

“The Modern School of Film is a great idea, and great ideas are hard to forget.” -Walter Salles, (Filmmaker: “The Motorcycle Diaries”, “Central Station”, “On The Road”)    “I greatly appreciate MSF’s commitment and support of the arts.” – John Woo, (Filmmaker: “The Killer”, “Hard Boiled”, “MI:2”)    “I had a blast and would come back anytime.” -Ben Gibbard, (lead singer, Death Cab for Cutie)    “A truly inspiring night.” – Sandra Bernhard