De Sica's Bicycle Thieves (1948) follows an unemployed man whose stolen bicycle threatens his family's survival. The film uses no professional actors, no studio sets, and no plot contrivances. The emotional devastation comes from the simplicity of the situation and the believability of the people.

Poverty here is not a backdrop for adventure but a condition that strips human dignity to its foundations. The desperation, the confusion, the final moral collapse — all are shown without judgment or sentimentality.