Comparison - Movie Review Example

s Movies are often intended to reflect the culture, setup and aura of a society. Therefore, various elements are addedto enhance the authenticity of the look and feel of the characters and situation, even locales. Also, themes and plots of the stories tend to influence the movie since all elements of a movie must always sync together to produce a unique blend which then touches the intellect and emotions of the audience. For this reason, movie critics often compare and contrast various movies to implicate how minor differences in elements may lead towards a complete dysfunction in characterization of the movie. Similarly, similarities in movies may also be analyzed to see how they implicate the touch and feel of these movies being compared. For the purpose, two movies of similar nature may be compared and contrasted to analyze various elements involved. Thus, a comparison of the movie The Kid with a Bike and Bicycle Thieves may prove futile for the paper. Therefore, the paper will be arguing how both papers are similar in context to the various themes and simple symbolic elements like a bicycle. Yet, the paper will also be talking about how the themes which are similar in nature have been approached in a different fashion with elements of contemporary nature impacting one movie making it different from the other. Therefore, an analysis of these similarities and differences will lead towards conclusive discussion of how these elements drastically impact the movie being talked about. Firstly, both the movies are similar in context to their reflection of harsh realities of time. Thus, both movies tend to reflect on the hard lives of the central characters by depicting their heartbreaking life stories. In this context, the movie ‘The kid with a bike’ takes a naturalistic approach while narrating sufferings of an abandoned child. This theme is similar to the one depicted in the Italian styled movie ‘Bicycle Thieves’. In both the movies, the core point of concern throughout have been the highly difficult moral as well as economic conditions which De Sica had to suffer after his bike gets stolen. Therefore, both movies are exactly similar in explicating the hard struggles which the central characters had to suffer from. The realistic lens, thus, proves to be futile in this context. Another shared theme between the two movies, besides the element of harsh realities of life has been that of the material prosperity. The central character Cyril in the movie, The kid in the Bike’ isn`t born rich and thus, when he struggled to make money he had to fact the moral struggles relating to his father as well. All money that he made, he used it to appeal his father towards himself. Therefore, throughout the movie, Cyril realizes that material prosperity is the key to living a good life, and thus, his entire characterization is impacted by the central theme i.e. material prosperity. In a similar manner, Antonio in the other movie also struggled all his life fighting the perils of poverty. Not only does his wife has to pawn her dowry sheets in order to buy another bicycle for him, but also does the financial hardship enhances the challenges of the entire narrative of the movie. Therefore, a core similarity of both the movies lie in the similar nature of themes touched upon in the movies. Another similarity in both these movies is the sense of direction which somehow focuses on the human nature and the characterization of human beings in general. Both the characters in both the movies, i.e. Cyril and Antonio, are depicted to have been shaped into the individuals that they are after suffering through various hardships. Both these characters have suffered through immense rejections, poverty and moral struggles which now defined their character and therefore, their every response relates to these struggles. Even when they both move on with their lives, it is depicted in a similar manner. Where Cyril realizes that he needs to move on, Antonio does the same by taking his son`s hand in his own and then disappearing somewhere in the crowd (Bartolini 20). Thus, in both the scenarios, evil world shaping human stories is yet another element in common which can clearly be pointed out. In addition, the experiences of these characters, if analyzed closely, can also be observed to have been similar in the context that both had experienced life on the periphery of the consciousness. Neither of the two characters possess anything close to autonomy on their lives and their worlds, i.e. they were experiencing the world from the outside. Thus, marginalization of the central characters is yet another striking similarity between the two works being discussed here. However, despite being thematically similar, the movies also have striking differences which also must be analyzed here. In the movie, the bicycle thieves, amidst all the immorality and despair, a sense of humanity also prevails at a few instances. When the son forgives the father and the owner of the bike also understands the situation of the protagonist of the movie, a sense of relief strikes on the movie. Though apparently, the other movie also comes off as a relief in the end, yet the sense of hopelessness is still there since the father and son gets knocked out with a baseball bat. Therefore, one movie gives a more realistic and brutal account of life than the other which impacts the entire feel of the movie in question. Also, The Bicyle Thieves rests on a neo-realistic paradigm where it also sends a political message by implicating the insensitive nature of capitalism. In contrast, the other movie, i.e. the kid with a bike is purely a social depiction of characters and themes and thus, has nothing much to do with political imperatives. In addition, the movie, the kid with a bike has been shot with a more contemporary characterization and direction as compared to the Bicycle thieves. That is, while Bicylce Thief is a real classic and depicts the life during the post war era, the other movie leaves a trail of modern characterization and lacks authenticity in context to the background. Therefore, both the movies have seemed to depict differences in addition to similarities in context to thematic aspirations and nature of characterization. Therefore, conclusively, an analysis of both the movies being discussed in the paper reveals that though there are immense similarities between the two yet differences can also be pointed out. That is, both movies have an appeal to the similar kinds of audiences given the similar natures of themes and subjects touched upon. Yet, one of the movies tends to be more political in nature and also realistic and authentic, while the other one seems to be a contemporary stretch of the scenarios. For these reasons, it can be concluded that though both movies can be considered similar for a variety of nature as in both movies, hardships and brutal truths tend to teach life stories to the characters. Yet, observing both the movies closely, it can also be concluded that both movies tell a different tale from a different lens and thus, the uniqueness of both with respect to each other can`t be ignored. In any case, such an analysis of movies reveals contents which otherwise remain hidden and unexposed. Works Cited: Bartolini, Luigi. Bicycle Thieves. New York: Macmillan, 1950. Print. Dardenne, Jean-Pierre, Luc Dardenne, Cécile . France, Thomas Doret, Jérémie Renier, Fabrizio Rongione, and Gilles Lellouche. The Kid with a Bike. Australia: Madman Entertainment, 2012. Read More