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Sat 10 Feb, 2007 05:08 pm
I just saw an ad for the new dvd release of de Sica's "Bicycle Thieves". I have always known the film as "The Bicycle Thief". Any idea as to the discrepancy? I can see the legitimacy of either; the singular referring to either the thief who stole the hero's bike, or the hero who was forced to try to steal a bike as a replacement; or the plural referring to both of them. It's the change at this late date that confuses me.
No idea, but didn't like the movie much anyway
Thanks for the link, Lord E. As I stated, both titles make sense. The wik. article favors the plural; whereas I lean slightly toward the singular.
The title of the film in its original Italian is Ladri di Biciclette which directly translates to Bicycle Thieves, ladri being the plural of ladro, 'thief'.
The discrepancy may be attributable to the belief by the US distributors that the title "The Bicycle Thief" sounds better to American movie audiences than "Bicycle Thieves."
There are many instances of unfaithful title translations in the movie industry, many due to the fact that many phrases and figures of speech do not translate well or directly into other languages. In the case of Ladri di Biciclette it seems to have been a matter of opinion about aesthetics.
I always knew it as the singular... but what is the original italian title?
I didn't hate the movie, but it's way down on my list of ital film favorites; I do like some others by de Sica better.
The film is one of my top 10 for foreign language films and top 20 for all films. I had total empathy with both the father and son throughout the film.
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