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Analysis of Cinematic Style in Selected Films

Similar to a hand-writing, films also possess the signature style of their directors and production

team. For instance, every filmmaker has their unique way of manipulating the cameras, designing the set

and use of lighting. These variations are what make each film unique and also convey each artist’s

filming style. Akira Kurosawa and Vittorio De Sica are known in the film circles for their unique filming

style. Notable among their films, based on their cinematic quality, are Rashomon (1950) and Bicycle

Thieves (1948) respectively. Rashomon is about the death of a Samurai, whose body has been discovered

by a woodcutter in the forest. Based on four different witness accounts, the audience is left to make their

own judgment on who the killer might have been. Again, it is not clear what intention the killer had when

killing the Samurai. However, keener analysis of this film reveals its depiction of the Japanese society

just after the Second World War. In many ways does the murdered Samurai symbolize the state of Japan

and the killers are the allied forces that defeated Japan during the Second World War. On the other hand,

Vittorio’s Bicycle Thieves depict the desperation in Italy after the Second World War. Tracing one man’s

(Antonio) search for his stolen bicycle, the film demonstrates the raging hopelessness among the people

in Europe at the time. There are certain aspects where these two films converge. One of them is the fact

that they portray the post-World War experiences of their respective settings. Secondly, the two films also

feature ordinary citizens going about their regular chores until things change when a spectacular event

happens. Again, both films feature various aspects of cinematography, such as camera shots, angles,

lighting and camera movement. However, closer examination reveals different goals for the filmmakers in

each film. Akira Kurosawa and Vittorio De Sica employ several aspects of cinematography such as
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tracking shots, particularly the wood-cutter’s discovery of the murder and the bicycle thief scene

respectively. However, the similar approach employed by both artists still bears different effects, denoting

each director’s perspectives on telling the truth.

That the two filmmakers employ various cinematographic techniques is an indisputable fact,

particularly when one examines two scenes from the films, namely the ‘Wood cutter’s’ scene and the

‘Bicycle thief’ scene. In the ‘Wood cutter’s’ sequence, the tracking shots of the wood cutter as he walks

through the dark woodland characterize the scenes. The camera shifts from the burning sun above the

dense crowns to the axe the wood cutter is carrying. The camera then moves to reveal the wood cutter’s

face, still from an eye-level, close up shot. The camera then zooms back to give a long shot of the wood

cutter and to reveal the setting in details. The camera angles keep alternating from eye-level to low and

high, thus giving various perspectives from which the audiences could view the wood cutter. The close up

shots in these sequences draw the viewer’s gaze towards certain aspects of the character or what he is

carrying in ways that convey subtle messages. For instance, by depicting the axe (00:46) before revealing

the person carrying it, the filmmaker unveils the man’s profession as a wood cutter.

The same approach is evident in De Sica’s film, Bicycle Thieves. Antonio is seen pasting

advertisement posters on a wall in a street, with his bicycle parked a few meters away. Similar to

Kurosawa’s scene, De Sica’s is also shot in the outdoors. The cameras alternate the angles while Antonio

is working on his posters and also shift to reveal the thieves as they prepare to flee with his bicycle. The

close up shot at the beginning of the sequence (00:03) reveals a sexy photograph of a woman. The camera

then moves horizontally to reveal Antonio, with a medium shot. The shot reveals his smiling face,

possibly implying his excitement at having landed a job. The camera then takes a long shot, deep focus of

the street below thereby introducing the three men who are intending to steal Antonio’s bicycle. The next

sequence of shots detail how the thief stole the bicycle and the ensuing street chase before Antonio

returns to his original point, dejected and tired. During the street chase, the camera alternates from close

up shots to long shots, tracking Antonio’s pursuit of his bicycle. At the end of the sequence, Antonio’s
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face is captured fully, revealing his emotional pain after losing his prized bicycle. His frame, seated on

the lower rungs of the ladder, is captured with the medium shot, high camera angle, thus drawing the

viewer’s sympathy.

The two filmmakers employ similar features of cinematography but with different intentions. A

closer examination of Kurosawa’s Rashomon reveals his use of subjective lenses to narrate his story.

Indeed, this is in line with the film story that seeks to demonstrate the subjectivity of truth. Kurosawa’s

style is evidently subjective, attempting to guide the viewer towards a certain perspective of the

character’s argument. Indeed, Figueiredo argues that Kurosawa is a “dialectical filmmaker [who]

operating to create works of narrative brilliance which reveal their own tensions” (XVII). Kurosawa

reveals an understanding is cinematic space where camera shots, movements and lenses combine to not

only give some superior visual images but also convey some ideological values to the audiences

(Figueiredo XVII). For instance, the sequence opens with a shot depicting the sun seemingly moving

among the dense crowns above. The flashes of the light rays into the camera, alternating with shadows

depict some movement. The subsequent depiction of axe the wood cutter is carrying connects with the

earlier shot well. Since the axe is shown moving the opposite direction from the sun in the former shot,

one could tell that the one carrying the axe is walking in a densely wooded area. Indeed, as the wood

cutter is shown in the subsequent shots, one can see his frame as he walks among the giant trees. The long

shot is thus aimed to contextualize the character as well as connect with the earlier shots that seemed

nonsensical at first. The tracking shots detailing his movement among the trees are seemingly not just

aimed at prolonging the scene or showing where the wood cutter is heading to. Instead, they build the

tension gradually for one keeps asking about that which awaits the man within this densely forested area.

Both clips employ deep focus. However, Kurosawa’s clip appears to utilize the aspect of deep

focus subjectively, in conjunction with music and the camera shots detailing the wood cutter’s movement

and emotional changes. Through deep focus, one can see the wood cutter within the context of the forest.

The camera angles of the wood cutter carrying his axe alternate, possibly to draw one’s admiration as
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well as sympathy towards him, bearing in mind he is all alone in the forest. Rashomon utilizes point of

view shots as well as tracking shots, close up and long takes with deep focus in this scene to attain

subjectivity. Such approaches, as noted by Coegnarts and Kravanja, help to create film subjectivity to

enable the viewer to develop their own “private field[s]of vision” (Coegnarts & Kravanja 153). While

watching this sequence, one goes beyond watching the mere act of the lone wood cutter walking and then

discovering a murder scene. The combination of music and camera works help to prepare the viewer

mentally for something that is going to unfold.

However, De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves does not utilize aspects of cinematography the same way

Kurosawa’s Rashomon does. De Sica adopts an objective, realistic depiction of the settings and characters

in the film. As a realist film, Bicycle Thieves employs objective shots that seem not keen on manipulating

the viewer’s perception. For instance, the depiction of Antonio smiling while pasting the poster of a sexy

woman on the wall does not draw one to conclude that his happiness is about the image of the woman.

Instead, from one’s prior knowledge of the story, Antonio is happy for he has landed a much needed job.

Again, the tracking shots are seamless, focusing solely on Antonio’s pursuit of his lost bicycle, thus

creating a sense of continuity. Furthermore, the composition in this scene (‘Bicycle thief’) is random and

natural, with an open frame, unlike the one in Rashomon. De Sica employs deep focus to give details of

the urban setting as well as help the audiences to deduce how difficult it was for Antonio to catch the

bicycle thief. By using wide angle, long take shots of the city as Antonio runs down the streets in pursuit

of the thief, his diminutive frame amidst the huge architectural structures and crowds enable one to

develop their own understanding of the story.

The camera angles, shots and movements in the entire sequence are aimed at narrating the story

and not evoke any emotions, save for the last shot depicting Antonio’s face as he cries. The tracking shots

of Antonio and his subsequent despair reveal De Sica’s realism style in filmmaking. According to some

studies, “neorealist films often tell ordinary people’s ordinary problems” and even mundane events that

cannot be shown in non-neorealist films (Keskin 2). This is the case with Antonio, an ordinary person in
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pursuit of his prized bicycle. The camera lenses, perspectives and movements therefore only advance the

story without affecting how one feels about the unfolding events.

The selected scenes from the two films share a number of things such as the outdoor settings.

They also employ similar cinematic techniques such as tracking cameras, close up, medium and long take

shots as well as a variety of camera angles. However, their end results are different. Whereas Kurosawa’s

approach is subjective, De Sica’s one is objective. Kurosawa intends to manipulate the viewer to see

things from the wood cutter’s point of view. By alternating points of view and prolonging the

uninterrupted tracking shots, the filmmaker connects the viewer with the woodcutter, thereby enabling

them to see the world from their perspectives. This is different from De Sica. De Sica’s use of objective

of the same aspects of cinematography employed by Kurosawa is meant to allow the viewer to make their

own judgment. He thus adopts a more realistic rendition of the normal life scenario in the urban setting,

with the natural sounds and light to show Antonio’s struggles.

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Works Cited

Coegnarts, Maarten & Kravanja, Peter. “A study in cinematic subjectivity: Metaphors of perception in

film”. Film Studies – Embodied Cognition and Cinema. 2014. Retrieved from:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266084270_A_study_in_cinematic_subjectivity_Metaphors_of

_perception_in_film

Criterioncollection (publisher). ‘Bicycle Thieves – Theft!’ (YouTube). 2012. Retrieved from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYtQ6xz-YnI

Figueiredo, Antonio. The Warrior's Camera: the cinema of Akira Kurosawa. New Jersey: Princeton

University Press. 1991. Retrieved from:

https://www.academia.edu/7924116/The_Warriors_Camera_the_cinema_of_Akira_Kurosawa

Han (publisher). ‘Rashomon – woodcutter’. (YouTube), 2019. Retrieved from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOaFRBeyRZI

Keskin, Suphi. “Analyzing Italian Neorealism by Focusing on Vittoro De Sica’s ‘Bicycle Thieves’”.

Academia. 2022. Retrieved from:

https://www.academia.edu/23737865/Bicycle_Thieves_As_a_Crystallization_of_Italian_Neorealism_Wh

ich_Breaks_the_Monopoly_of