The bicycle is truly a lifestyle: we had already told you about the Cycle Chic movement that combines style, fashion, and design with two wheels. Now, we want to talk to you about the world of cinema and how films have celebrated this great passion. There is nothing better than sharing your love for the bike, watching a film that celebrates it in all its nuances.

Here is our selection of the 5 best films about the bicycle. Attention: popcorn is required first!

Bicycle Thieves

This big classic of Italian cinema couldn't help but be first on our list of the best films about bicycles. Directed by Vittorio De Sica in 1948, it tells of an Italy trying to survive after the Second World War. Antonio Ricci, the protagonist, finds work as a bill-poster but to start off he needs a bicycle and his is pawned at a pawnshop. His wife is thus forced to pawn her sheets to recover it. On his first workday, Antonio’s bike gets stolen: thus begins his great search for his own means of transport. The protagonist embarks on a true odyssey in which he always catches sight of the thief, but never manages to reach him.

Wadjda

Much more recent than Bicycle Thieves, this film directed by the Saudi director Haifaa Al-Mansour, dates back to 2012 and tells the story of Wadjda, a 10-year-old girl from Riyadh.

Wadjda is affectionate and enterprising: her goal is to overcome the limits of Saudi culture. So after a fight with a friend she sees a stunning green bicycle for sale in a shop near her house. Her dream is to get that bike to beat her friend in a race, reclaiming her identity as a woman. In Saudi Arabia, at the time the film was shot, it was not permitted for women to ride bicycles. In this case, therefore, more than a means, it becomes a tool for personal freedom and for female dignity.

Premium Rush

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a New York courier who cycles through the busy streets of the metropolis. He is tasked with delivering a mysterious envelope, but he is stopped by a policeman, so his wild ride on a fixed gear bike begins, darting between the cars and taxis of the Big Apple.

Breaking Away

With this movie, you're dropped right into the United States of 1979. Dave is a young man from Indiana who loves bicycles and Italy, but during a cycling race, a team pushes him off the road. After the accident and a romantic disappointment, he decides to abandon his passion altogether, but his father convinces him to get back on the two wheels. Dave, along with his friends, joins a local cycling race to beat a very strong team, and in the end they win together.

One Mile Above

This is an Asian film from 2011 that tells the story of Zhang Shuhao's bicycle journey on the roads of Tibet. After graduating and losing his brother, at just 24 years old and with no experience, the young man throws himself into this new month-long adventure. The challenge is very tough, but Zhang Shuhao manages to survive and tell everyone about it.

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