Arquivo

In China, bicycles were, for decades, a means of locomotion, a work object, and a symbol of being on the rise socially. So it is for Guei, a boy who, at the age of 16, moves from the interior of the country to Peking in search of a better life. Hardworking as he is, he soon finds a job as a delivery boy and that gives rise to his first dream in the capital, namely, to manage to buy a silver mountain bike, on loan from his boss, and that he uses for work. The purchase would represent an affirmation of his existence in the great city. On the eve of attaining his objective, however, his bicycle is stolen during one of the errands. Guei must find it, for without it, both the job and the dreams will be gone. After searching desperately, he manages to recover the bicycle, although it is already in the hands of another person. His challenge now is to share his bicycle with a stranger. Beijing Bicycle brings back some of the drama of the neo-realistic classic The Bicycle Thieves, by Italian Vitorio de Sica, and conveys to China today some of the noble ideals in life such as perseverance, solidarity, and hope.