Thursday 9 March 2023: Movie Musings: Les Bicyclettes de Belsize

Thursday 9 March 2023: Movie Musings: Les Bicyclettes de Belsize

This is a short (27 minutes) movie made in 1968, released in 1969. It is very much of its period, and can be compared favourably with the much more serious and substantial movie Blowup (a 1966 movie directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, starring David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave and Sarah Miles, which was criticised for not capturing the energy and whimsy of ‘swinging London’).

Les Bicyclettes de Belsize has almost no dialogue, but almost continuous music, including songs. Other movies similarly without dialogue include:

• The Plank, 1967, written and directed by Eric Sykes, and starring Eric Sykes and Tommy Cooper; and
• Futtock’s End, 1970, written by, and starring, Ronnie Barker, which was shot only 11 miles to the north-west of Hampstead Heath.

The cinematography of Les Bicyclettes de Belsize is notable (including camera angles and camera movement), as are the editing, costumes, characterisations and the emotional arc of the movie. The near-absence of dialogue means that the viewer is required to infer from what is shown. The movie is set exclusively in Hampstead, London, and the geography itself (residential areas, commercial areas, Hampstead Heath and Parliament Hill) is a low-key but significant character (note that there are several flights of steps).