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?
In the film industry two movies can follow identical plot lines and result in teaching different lessons. This idea is portrayed excellently between the two films “The Last Laugh” and “Bicycle Thieves”. These two films create this idea as “The Last Laugh” portrays the idea of public humiliation having effect on the mental status of people in society whereas “Bicycle Thieves” represents the struggle of being poor in Italy along with what lengths humans will go to in times of need. “The Last Laugh” emphasizes the idea of public humiliation by zooming in on the citizens laughing at the man pretending to have a job. This scene was then enhanced even more as they made the laughs begin to echo and spin around the screen giving the viewer a key into what is going on in the head of the protagonist rather than just seeing the scene as people laughing at him. Scenes like these help bring out the moral ideas the film is trying to encompass, as showing the traumatic scenes through the first person point of view of our protagonist allows the audience to learn and better themselves, teaching the lesson that every action can have a different effect on different people. “Bicycle Thieves” takes this in a different direction, as instead of focusing on the emotional effect the protagonist feels; it focuses on the actions and consequences of his actions. The film focused on the consequences by having a crowd shame him saying he should be arrested and how he shouldn't be able to get away with what he did. Overall this shows how two films with similar themes and ideas could present completely different ideas moral ideas through the use of camera angles and optical effects.
ReplyDeleteThe Bicycle Thieves and The Last Laugh are different because they make separate criticisms of socioeconomic society. While both Bicycle Thieves and The Last Laugh have a depressing ending with little hope for the future, distinct systems are criticized within the two films. The Bicycle Thieves specifically criticizes the socioeconomic inequalities that make social mobility impossible. Meanwhile, The Last Laugh criticizes the public pressure of a capitalistic society and the economic system as a whole. Viewers can see these differentiating details through plot devices and the storytelling of each film. For instance, the Bicycle Thieves uses the bicycle as a plot device and symbol within the film. Throughout the plot, the bicycle is the passageway to economic stability for Antonio’s family. However, he is never able to find it. In several scenes, director Vittorio De Sica creates frustrating interactions that represent the unfairness of Antonio’s situation. By the end of the film, despite Antonio’s best efforts, he is never able to find his bicycle, which is the passageway to socioeconomic mobility. On the other hand, the Last Laugh criticizes the capitalistic society as a whole, rather than the inability to move classes within it. F.W. Murnau heavily emphasizes the reactions of characters within the Last Laugh. He satirizes the exaggerated responses of the neighbors to criticize the public pressures and expectations regarding job professions. This difference is distinct between the two movies as Murnau deploys different film techniques to emphasize emotions. An example is during the gossip scene of the film, in which Murnau uses close-up shots to film the bizarre reactions of neighbors and consequently, criticize the public reaction. This specific film technique is distinct to the Last Laugh.
ReplyDeleteWhile the last laugh and the bicycle thief may be similar in endings and political themes, they are very different in the aspects of the intended social messages and how they convey them through the protagonists. In both films the protagonists are characterized as down-beat and distressed because of some significant negative event that happened to them. In the last laugh, the doorman lost his job, and in the bicycle thief, he lost his bike, which caused him to lost his job. While they almost had the exact same problems, the reasons they acted the way they did in the film were very different. The doorman loses his will to live, becomes unresponsive and his health deteriorates. Antonio on the other hand, is willing to do whatever he needs to do to be able to get his job back, to the point of morally corrupt options. The reason the doorman or Antonio act the way they do is connected to what they values, and how the directors use that to convey their messages. The doorman is upset he lost his job because he tied it to his usefulness and self-worth, and feels empty without that piece of his identity. This was a political critiqued on capitalism and how it valued individuals on their usefulness, which can be very harmful for many individuals. Antonio on the other hand, is upset because he wants so desperately to be able to survive in his society. This is so much so, that he is willing to even attempt rob someone else, and generally do anything to help himself succeed. This could be a critique of 1940’s society in Italy, where although Antonio wants desperately to bounce back inanely from a shortcoming, his environment does not let him. Both environments don’t allow for their success, for different thematic and intentional reasons by the directors.
ReplyDeleteIn The Last Laugh, the premise is more related to old age, and what happens to those who go through the inevitable, while Bicycle Thieves is a take on desperation. In Last Laugh, the audience and the characters all know that the main character is too old for the job. There is no real question of whether he is capable or not. Instead, the question is whether or not he will accept his inevitable frailty. On the other hand, in Bicycle Thieves, the main character is a fully capable adult who is trying to provide for his family. His only means of doing so, his bike, was stolen, and he spends the film trying to get it back. The film is very realistic in the fact that the main character never does actually get his bike back. In fact, his hopelessness in his inability to find his bike leads him to attempt to steal another person’s bike to replace his. The Last Laugh is basically saying that old people don’t have a place in society, and they are just expected to stay out of the way in their nursing home. In Bicycle Thieves, there isn’t even a nursing home for the main character’s family to go to. The audience is just left wondering the state of his family, with little hope for a positive outcome. Even poorer than before, as they pawned off their bed sheets to get their original bike back, it is very likely they will have no place to stay soon either. This is a much more bleak message, as at least the character in The Last Laugh is cared for. In Bicycle Thieves, the only silver lining is that the main character’s son wasn’t hit by a car.
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