Perhaps the most influential period in cinema history was the Italian neo-realism period of the late 40s and director Vittorio De Sica was one of the prime reasons for this important period of film-making. "The Bicycle Thieves" is a film about a poor man whose only means for a job is his bicycle, which gets stolen. The film follows him and his young boy throughout war-ravaged Rome in search of the stolen bike. The trip involves some of the most brilliant vignettes in film history; the church, the accusation of an Italian boy, the old man, the bicycle market, the restaurant and the pawn shop, all perfect little shots of what realism is, showing the desperation of man to survive and the realistic circumstances that go against him. A true cinematic landmark and one of the great masterpieces in film history.