The relations between parents and children, fathers and sons in particular, deserve much attention: they are always so different and similar at the same time. This time, I am going to analyze three movies by different directors, which made a wonderful attempt to introduce their own visions concerning the relations between fathers and sons in different situation and during different periods of time.
The Bicycle Thief, I’m not Scared, and Life Is Beautiful – all these movies have one theme in common, dad and son’s relations. The situations and backgrounds, presented in all these movies help to comprehend and describe the obligations, which dads have to their sons: some dads want to protect their sons, other dads think that their duty is to demonstrate all the realities of this life, and sometimes, dads just want to present all the truth. Anyway, the most important thing concerning any dad is the ability to support children and be the best father for them.
In Bicycle Thief, the father decides to find out who stole his new bicycle and offers his son to help. In this poor family, the purchase of the bicycle was a really significant event, because certain family things had to be sold. So, this theft should be discovered. The father and the son start their investigation and observe all the realities of this life: its poverty, its inequality, and its misunderstandings.
To my mind, such choice, made by the father is not that proper. Of course, it is important to help the child learn this world and be ready to anything, however, it is also significant to provide a child with some kind of childhood, careless and kind. In this movie, the end is not very positive: the father chooses a wrong way and steals another bicycle. He is caught, and his son sees how his father may be punished. It is not the best way to teach the son to comprehend this life. To my mind, if I were the father in this situation, I just would not take my son to investigate that theft or, at least, did not demonstrate such a wrong example to steal something that was not your own property.
The relations between a father and a son, described in I’m not Scared are not successful as well. These relations turn out to be politically incorrect, this is why it is very hard for me to sympathize them. This ambivalence, no trust, and desire to demonstrate power from dad’s side – all this is not a good example of how the relations should look like.
The problems of the son and the desire to help and listen to his father’s orders make a child choose a wrong way; and, as a result, he is accidentally shot by his own father. The son wants to take dad’s responsibilities and help other people; the mistake, made by the dad is certain prohibition to help Filippo. To my mind, the father should help to examine the situation, in this case, the consequences would not be so disappointed.
So, the last film under consideration is Life Is Beautiful by Roberto Benigni. Telling the truth, these relations are the most appropriate for dads and sons. Any child should have a chance to have happy childhood; and any father should comprehend this simple truth. This is why, even in Nazi camp, the father explains these terrible events to his son, Joshua, as a game. Joshua is too small to comprehend that this war takes lives and brings lots of despair.
Father’s desire to protect his son from any trouble is really great. Such funny attitude makes any person laugh and cry simultaneously. These relations are really worthy of attention, because such fathers are treasures nowadays. I cannot even imagine what to do in the situation, described in this movie, and find the way, chosen by the father, the best one among any possible. Of course, truth and protection are not always compatible, and clever father should feel what step to take to make the necessary choice.