This paper shared by https://exclusive-paper.net/ analyzes how the following three films depict the modern experiences under different historical and national conditions. The films highlighted include The Bicycle Thief, Beijing Bicycle and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

The film entitled The Bicycle Thief addresses specific social and personal issues of the modern-day period. The main theme explored in the film The Bicycle Thief encompasses the tribulations of a poor father during the post World War II period. The film talks about a man who is in a mission to search for his stolen bicycle with the purpose of regaining his job which his young family depended on.

Throughout the film, the modern day predicaments of poverty and high dependency ratio are addressed. For instance, the family of Antonio completely depends on him and his work for providence. He is a sole family breadwinner since his wife is unemployed (The Bicycle Thief). The stolen bicycle is brought from the pawn office in the result of a barter trade. His wife takes her dowry bed sheets and exchanges them in return for the bicycle. This therefore depicts the poor economic situation that exists in most families around the globe.

The film also discusses the difference in terms of class in the society. For example, in the film, the life experiences of a poor family and a rich family are explored when Antonio and Bruno visit the restaurant. The poor family is represented by Antonio and his son Bruno because they cannot afford a proper meal. On the other hand, the rich family in the same restaurant is enjoying a good meal. The sight of this rich family compels Antonio to deliberate on the calamity that faces his young family. The film also highlights social evils such as theft. This is evident when a thief snatches Antonio’s bicycle.

The film entitled Beijing Bicycle explores the experiences of the youth culture in addition to several social problems such as class issue, theft, youth delinquency, change and the dissections arising from rural-urban migration. The film explicates the life experiences of a seventeen year old boy named Guei who visits the city of Beijing with the intention of finding a job. As the film progresses, it can be seen that the boy is lucky and receives a job at a courier company. The boy also gets assigned with a brand new bicycle to him to help run his errands (Beijing Bicycle). The bicycle unfortunately gets stolen provoking the owner of the courier company to dismiss Guei from his job. However, he decides to retain him on one condition that he gets the stolen bicycle back.

On the other hand, the film highlights the life of a young boy by name Jian who hails from a rich family. His desire to own a bicycle is driven by his love for agirl that he fancies. However, the boy is not as hard-working as Guei. He decides to steal some money from his family in order to buy a bicycle and coincidentally purchases the bicycle that was stolen from Guei. Furthermore, the film highlights the pains of the modern world through the existence of rogue gangs in the city. This is exemplified by the killing of the attacker who tries to wreck the bicycle of Guei. Also, in the film, the rich boy has his own group of gang made up of schoolboys. The gang subjects Guei to pain due to his persistent tracking of his bicycle from Jian. However, as the film comes to the conclusion, Guei and Jian solve their differences amicably after Jian learns that the girl he likes is in love with another man.

Lastly, this paper analyzes the film entitled Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. This is a Spanish film that explores the modern day social upheavals that women undergo in their daily life situations. The film basically highlights the perturbed nature of the main actress by the name Pepa Marcus due to her break up with his boyfriend. As a result of her depression, she decides to take sleeping pills in bid to cure her emotional heartbreak and the outpouring of depressing emotions. Evidently, the film exemplifies the true nature of events in the modern day life through the actions of the main actress. This is evident through the sweetness and the pains of the contemporary world depicted in the film. Some of the social evils and vices emphasized include murder, drug abuse, violence and infidelity in marriage (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown). The violent conduct is highlighted through the destruction of property such as the telephone, broken windows and the burnt bedroom. Pepa Marcus’s visitors incidentally are given an overdose of sleeping pills which Pepa takes in order to forget her boyfriend Ivan. The issue of infidelity is brought to light through the acts of the private life of Ivan and Paulina. It is therefore evident that Ivan has been unfaithful to her girlfriend, Pepa Marcus.

There are differences and similarities that the three films share in terms of features, such as, style. The similarities of the three films are based on the ability to address the contemporary issues that the world is facing currently. Such issues entail the social malpractices that have become rampant throughout the communities in different parts of the world. The differences in the styles of the films are based on the location and set up of the movies. For instance, the film entitled Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is based in Spain. The Bicycle Thief is based in Italy whereas Beijing Bicycle is a Chinese movie.