• A CORNERSTONE of Italian neorealism, Bicycle Thieves, Vittorio De Sica’s drama of survival in Italy’s post-war depression earned a special Oscar for its affecting power.

Shooting in the streets and alleys of Rome, De Sica uses the real-life environment to frame his moving story of a desperate father (Lamberto Maggiorani) whose new job is threatened when a thief steals his bicycle.

Too poor to buy another, he and his son (Enzo Staiola) take to the streets in an impossible search for his bike. Cast with non-actors, this landmark work mixes authenticity and lyricism to unsurpassed effect.

Bicycle Thieves was originally released in 1948 and is screened in Italian with English subtitles at Southampton’s Harbour Lights Picturehouse on Sunday at 1pm.

  • WINCHESTER Film Society present a film classic this week, Hal Hartley’s masterpiece about average people. The comedy social drama The Unbelieveable Truth, showing at Everyman Cinema on Tuesday, jump-started a genre.

In essence it’s an indie romantic comedy packed with crackling dialogue and funny performances.

It transforms a small neighborhood’s idiosyncrasies into a tapestry of “neofabulism”.