The Icicle Thief is a 1989 film by Italian

Cinema of Italy

The history of Italian cinema began just a few months after the Lumière brothers had patented their Cinematographe, when Pope Leo XIII was filmed for a few seconds in the act of blessing the camera.-Early years:...

 director Maurizio Nichetti

Maurizio Nichetti

Maurizio Nichetti is an Italian film screenwriter, actor and director.-Film Director:* 1979 - Ratataplan* 1980 - Ho fatto splash* 1983 - Domani si balla!* 1986 - Il Bi e il Ba...

, named in imitation of Vittorio De Sica

Vittorio de Sica

Vittorio De Sica was an Italian director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement....

's classic Italian neorealist movie, The Bicycle Thief

Bicycle Thieves

Bicycle Thieves , also known as The Bicycle Thief, is a 1948 Italian neorealist film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It tells the story of a poor man searching the streets of Rome for his stolen bicycle, which he needs to be able to work. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Luigi...

(Italian: Ladri di biciclette). Some feel "The Icicle Thief" was created as a spoof of neorealism, which predominated Italian cinema after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. However, it is generally understood to go beyond this and to take a stand against commercialism

Commercialism

Commercialism, in its original meaning, is the practices, methods, aims, and spirit of commerce or business. Today, however, it primarily refers to the tendency within open-market capitalism to turn everything into objects, images, and services sold for the purpose of generating profit...

 as destructive towards art.

Plot

The film tells the story of a director who is drawn into a television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 set while watching one of his films. Like the television version, the action is cut at 11-minute intervals by commercials. Gradually, the cast begins incorporating the commercials into their own lines, entirely changing the original concept of the film.

Wordplay translation

The film's Italian title Ladri di saponette, a play on the Italian title of De Sica's film, means "Soap Thieves"; it is justified by dialogue where a boy is told not to use up all the soap when washing his hands, and his mother wonders if he is eating it. For English-speaking audiences, the title was changed to The Icicle Thief, playing on the English title of De Sica's film. This title was justified by changing the wording of the English subtitles when the characters talk about some chandeliers and one is stolen. In the original Italian dialogue they are said to sparkle like pearls (pèrle) and drops of water (gocce), but in the English subtitles, they look "like icicles" (which in Italian would be ghiaccioli).

External links

• The Icicle Thief on moria.co.nz