Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves (1948) is a sad tale of one man’s quest to provide for his family. Despite being set in post-World War II Rome and being shot in black and white, the film still has plenty of themes modern audiences can identify with and will probably be able to identify with for years to come. It doesn’t matter what country you live in or what century it is, plenty of people can sympathize with a workingman trying to make ends meet and trying to be a good man in the eyes of his son. Like many people my favourite Italian movies are Sergio Leone Westerns, but that doesn’t really count since they are essentially American movies made by an Italian director. When I watched Bicycle Thieves on Netflix last fall I knew I wasn’t going to get a gun-toting Western or gangster movie, but as fan of cinema in general I will watch anything. Plus having travelled to Italy and taken a few Italian courses it’s always fun to watch an Italian movie to practice the language. Turns...