On the surface Bicycle Thieves and The Last Laugh have the same plot. In both films the protagonist either loses his job or will likely lose a job and in a desperate bid to restore that job they need to reacquire or even steal a precious object that symbolizes their position, a bicycle or a uniform, respectively. Furthermore, if we ignore the "happy ending" imposed by the studio on The Last Laugh, both protagonists end the movie defeated and depressed with seemingly little hope for a better future. Nonetheless, despite these similarities, these are different movies. In what way are they different? What is the social or moral message of each? What are each say about the society of their times (Germany in the 20's and Italy in the 40's)? How do they differ on questions of social mobility, morality or the family? Is one more hopeful or cynical?
While both The Last Laugh and Bicycle Thieves criticize the negative aspects of capitalism in German and Italian society, respectively, The Last Laugh criticizes the internalization of capitalist culture among the lower class, while Bicycle Thieves emphasizes the importance of being a part of a group and the protection that provides. In both films, poor people struggle and do not receive much help because they are seen as expendable. For example, the doorman in The Last Laugh loses his job that he has worked at for a long time. His employers do not help him prepare for his demotion, giving him no warning and making his demotion to the position of a much lower status as a washroom attendant immediate. In Bicycle Thieves, Antonio loses his job because his bicycle is stolen. Without his bicycle, he cannot work. His employers and the police do little if anything to help him get his bicycle back despite seeing the distress that losing it has caused him. In both films, the men losing their jobs are afforded little to no help because they are not seen as important since in a capitalist society, the next person to replace them is just as useful economically. In Bicycle Thieves, the police concern themselves with breaking up a union, finding it to be more important than helping an ordinary replaceable worker who has lost his bicycle. However, a key difference between the two films is that in The Last Laugh, the doorman is shunned by the members of his community after losing his job, while communities and groups play an important role in protecting their members in Bicycle Thieves. When Antonio finds the man who stole his bicycle, everyone in the thief’s neighborhood defends him and says that he has a clean record. Antonio, having no witnesses to argue his case, has no way to press charges against the thief, as the local policeman tells him. Throughout the film, Antonio does not have a group of people behind him that is willing to help him, and this leaves him to fight his problems alone, unsuccessfully. The presence of unions is also notable in Bicycle Thieves, and although they do not play an absolutely crucial role in the story, their presence shows that organized groups are important in Italian society. The broader difference between the people of German society in The Last Laugh and those of Italian society in Bicycle Thieves is that the ordinary citizens in The Last Laugh do not support each other, while ordinary citizens in Bicycle Thieves band together to protect each other. Although the purpose of the communities in Bicycle Thieves may not always have much to do with protection from capitalists, the members of these communities still defend each other, such as in the neighborhood of the original bicycle thief. Meanwhile, the members of the doorman’s community in The Last Laugh ridicule and shun him as soon as he begins to struggle, accepting the capitalist treatment of the doorman, a fellow member of their community, as right. Had the members of the thief’s community been like those of the doorman’s community, they might have allowed Antonio to beat up the thief instead of protecting him.
ReplyDeleteWhile both The Last Laugh and Bicycle Thieves have similar key points scattered throughout the film, there are ways that the different directors expressed their different ideals throughout the film. To start, The Last Laugh focuses on bringing light to a 1920 Germany and, according to the director’s stance, the negatives of it. One key theme in the film is ageism. The unnamed doorman gets fired solely because of his age and inability to outperform the younger, stronger doorman. Contrary to the Bicycle Thieves, the elderly is not shown often let alone as a main character. This shows how, in Italy, ageism is not a pressing, public problem. The need for work, in the film, is so demanding and such an issue in 1940 Italian life, that the director would rather focus on how even the younger people are struggling to survive. Secondly, The Last Laugh’s underlying theme is how capitalism is not morally, economically, nor sustainable for a successful business. On the other hand, Bicycle Thieves never touch on these political questions because, in their eyes, there are more pressing questions that need to be answered such as how does, as a poor, middle aged working man, find a voice. And in the film they answer that by showing that he never finds a voice or person/group in power to help him survive in the world. In addition, towards the end of the bicycle film, the main character attempts to steal a bicycle after not being able to find his own bike. Getting stopped by a large group of people including gangs and police the main character gives up as he walks home. The point of this scene is to show how those in large power groups stay there, and never give it up. Those who are not in those groups are unable to receive help because they have nothing to offer. In conclusion, though the two films can pick at similar plots, the core themes of each film are drastically different because of the setting, director, and goal of the storyline.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt that both The Last Laugh and Bicycle Thieves have similar concepts throughout their films, but the way each film decided to go about these concepts were very different. One main theme that both films seem to demonstrate is the struggle that poor people faced. In The Last Laugh, the doorman loses his job and gets demoted with no warning. He was demoted to a much lower position, and his employers did not have any sympathy for him. In Bicycle Thieves, Antonio lost his job and no one did anything to help him get it back. The reason he lost his job was because his bicycle was stolen, and he needed it for work. The police did nothing to help Antonio with his stolen bike because they were to worried about "more important" problems. Another difference between the two films was the sense of community. In The Last Laugh, the community mocked the doorman and only put him down throughout the story. In Bicycle Thieves, if you were apart of a community, then they would try and back you up as best as they can. Everyone who lived in the neighborhood of the man who stole Antonio's bike, stood up for the thief and said that he has never done anything like that before. There is a distinct difference between German Society, shown in The Last Laugh, and Italian Society, shown in Bicycle Thieves. It is clear that in the German society, normal citizens aren't willing to protect one another, and in Italian Society normal citizens will form groups together in order to help support one another. Altogether, the films have a few similar values, but the main themes and storylines are significantly different.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBoth The Last Laugh and Bicycle Thieves have very similar plots throughout the run time of their films. However each movie takes a different and unique stance on several topics that are largely based on their geographical origin. A large topic explored in each film involves the community surrounding the main protagonist. In The Last Laugh we see an old man lose his job and in an attempt to hold onto what he has left he steals his jacket back. However, this does not stop the problem and he is forced to face the fallout his community hurls at him. He is relentlessly teased and mocked and the old man is forced into self isolation. In contrast during Bicycle Thieves when Antonio’s bike is stolen he is met with help from his community. Instead of mocking him for his bad luck Antonio finds refuge in Brunon as he agrees to help pursue the thieves that stole his back. This has a profound impact on Antonio and he is more motivated to get up from his stroke of bad luck and reclaim his job. It is evident from the two films that there is a very different set of social norms from each country of origin. In German society it is more evident that people are focused on themselves and will put others down to get ahead. Whereas in Italian culture the citizens band together and conquer much harder tasks together. Each is different in its own way and either could be right or wrong.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteIn the film The Last Laugh, the social message is a critique of the capitalistic values taking over Germany at the time. Those sentiments lead society to value one's utility over individuality. By embracing utility as a valuation of one's worth, the older generation, in the eye’s of German society at the time, is less worthwhile than the younger generation because of their lack of physical utility. The value of utility is shown by the hotel manager's actions where he fires the doorman after seeing him struggle to carry a heavy trunk inside the hotel. While the doorman has bases his identity off of his career and diligently worked as a doorman for years, the hotel manager, who is a characterization of German society at the time, believes that the doorman's lack of utility compared to younger workers outweighs his past contributions. As a result of being denied by society, the doorman is ultimately left to die alone.
Similarly, in the film Bicycle Thieves, the social message is a critique against the capitalistic society that does not allow for proper social mobility between socioeconomic classes. However, the message continues by proposing communism as a solution to the poor man's plight in the capitalistic society of Italy in the 40's. At the beginning of the movie, Antonio's precious bike, which represents his livelihood and ability to provide for his family, is stolen from him. While Antonio persistently searches for his bicycle throughout the film, he never finds it. However, unlike the doorman who becomes shunned over his demotion, Antonio can rely on his community. The very night his bicycle gets stolen, Antonio goes to his friend Baiocchi who listens to his situation and supports him by assuring Antonio that he and the other community members will help find the stolen bicycle. As Antonio leaves, Baiocchi states, "trust me, we'll sort it out somehow" (De Sica). The following day, Baiocchi and the other trash collectors help Antonio search for his bicycle. Their actions emphasize the power of belonging to a community, similar to one in a Communistic society where everyone (in theory) belongs to the same socioeconomic community because a community will always provide support. While The message in The Last Laugh predominantly critiques capitalism, Bicycle Thieves' message promotes a solution (answer) to the critique of capitalism in the form of promoting communism.