Directed by Vittorio de Sica and adapted by Cesare Zavattini, Bicycle Thieves presents all the characteristics just shown above: there are non-professional actors, who better show at the screen real attitudes and experiences (Lamberto Maggiorani, the protagonist, known as Antonio Ricci, "was chosen just because of his funny way of walking"); shoots were made alongside the streets of Rome; scenography was extremely close to reality (for instance Ricci's house); characters talk with the typical roman dialect and themes debated are ideals of equality and social justice. Furthermore there is not a narrator who influences the point of view of the audience: through a very simple synopsis, spectators discover the straight revelation of the real, without any filters. It is because all of these features that Andre' Bazin said that Bicycle Thieves is "one of the first examples of pure cinema. No more actors, no more story, no more sets. The perfect aesthetic illusion of reality." The film portrays an odyssey through Rome by Antonio Ricci: thanks to Zavattini's theory of "pedinamento" - the following of someone - the audience is conscious of what the character in the film is doing at all times. The aim is to let the images speak for themselves, following the slow and fatigued step of the working class man: with this technique we follow character's situations and state of mind step by step. Throughout this long itinerary, bicycles (the main symbol) cross the whole story, they appear and disappear: the bicycle represents the chance for a new lifestyle, but also the loss of the job; at the main time it symbolises the temptation which drives Antonio to steal, and the despair of the family that have lost their hope6; it is the humanism in this film that make it real. During his journey Antonio bumps into situations and characters "the police station, the trade union headquarters, restaurants patrons, etc.