Casablanca and The Bicycle Thief

Casablanca

In January 23rd, 1943 Casablanca was being released in the United States. Directed by Michael Curtiz, the movie won 3 Oscars em 1944 - Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, and up to date the it is well known worldwide.

One interesting fact about the cinematography in Casablanca is the attention paid when Ingrid Bergman was in camera. The cinematographer Arthur Edeson shot her from her left side - hers favorite, "often with a softening gauze filter and with catch lights to make her eyes sparkle; the whole effect was designed to make her face seem "ineffably sad and tender and nostalgic." - Wiki

Fun fact: "The difference in height between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman changes throughout the film. This is because Bergman was actually a few inches taller than Bogart, though to create the illusion that it was vice versa, Michael Curtiz had Bogart stand on boxes and sit on pillows in some shots, or had Bergman slouch down (as evident when she sits on the couch in the "franc for your thoughts" scene)" - IMD.

A good scene to talk about diegetic sounds/music and non-diegetic sounds/music is the one Rick is at the bar, after he sees Ilsa. In the beginning of the scene Sam is playing the piano, and the song is sad, melancholic. It fits perfectly with Rick's expression, and feelings. When the scene goes into a flashback the music also changes, the music now is played by an orchestra, and has a tone more joyful. 

Bicycle Thieves

The Italian film, directed by Vittorio De Sica, was released in the United States in December 13rd, 1949, and is the Oscar winner for Honorary Award.

We can point some differences between Bicycle Thieves and classical Hollywood films, but for me one that is very interesting is the fact of a non-actor in a lead role. Lamberto Maggiorani was a factory worker by the time De Sica cast him for the movie. Following along with the "real people" real speech was used, instead of literary dialogue.  

If we go deeper in the comparison and focus on the cinematography, we can notice that in the Bicycle Thieves the shots are longer and the focus deeper than in classical Hollywood movies.

In the opening scene of Bicycle Thieves we see a crowd of frustrated workers heading to work - or heading to the factory hoping to get a job. I think the final shot can be related with the first scene because in the end we also see a frustrated crowd, but this time they are heading back home, after a day of work, or a day of searching, like is the case of the protagonist of the movie.

References:
Curtiz, Michael. Casablanca. January 23rd, 1943.

De Sica, Vittorio. Bicycle Thieves. December 13rd, 1949.

Mooney, James. The Bicycle Thieves and Italian Neorealism.

http://filmandphilosophy.com/2013/03/08/the-bicycle-thieves-and-italian-neorealism/
http://evanerichards.com/2009/447

Wikipedia. Casablanca. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casablanca_%28film%29#Cinematography

IMDb. http://imdb.org