The action in Bicycle Thieves is set in postwar Rome, but the fact that people are generally experiencing difficulties in earning enough money to provide for their families makes it easier for viewers to relate to the economic situation present in prewar Italy. One can also consider that the overall soviet montage film theory school emerged as a result of the Bolshevik revolution whereas Italian realism was generated by the Great Depression.

The Soviet Montage film theory school at times is inclined to put across subjectivity, given that it emerged in a period when communism thrived and virtually everything related to the old tsarist regime was criticized. Eisenstein himself was obviously interested in reproducing the terror installed by Russia's imperial administration through having his viewers compare the masses with the factory workers in Strike while the royal family is likened to the shareholders in charge of handling the rebellion.

Even with the fact that Italy had was subjected to serving a Fascist regime during the golden years of Italian neorealist filmmaking, film directors were not actually influenced by what happened around them and were in point of fact capable of producing works that were impartial in character.

Strike appears to focus on collectivism, judging from the way that workers behave and from the concept that the directors seems to promote the belief that it is more important for people to be treated as a whole, with priorities being set in accordance to the majority's well-being.

Bicycle Thieves deals with a western approach of relating to people, stressing the importance of the individual through the fact that the storyline has a protagonist who is shown in a series of circumstances, each of them demonstrating that he is the fundamental element in the motion picture, even with the larger-than-life straightforwardness in it. The moment when Bruno acknowledges that his father is not the superhuman that he considered him to be is essential in adding to the Italian neorealist touch of the

Characters in both movies are forced to perform immoral acts as a result of the fact that society deprives them of some of their most basic needs. The factory workers charging the factory manager and Ricci's choice to become a thief himself are consequences to the fact that they were influenced by the outside world. It is society who ultimately emerges victorious in both situations, proving that it is virtually impossible for people to rise against the most influential powers in the state. Eisenstein actually wants mockery and satire to be the two elements influencing viewers in understanding the main themes in the film. The director relies heavily on montage in order to present audiences with his perspective in regard to the film's mise-en-scene, especially when considering the length and position of certain shots, as they are most likely meant to have viewers experience a similar feeling when viewing them.
Eisenstein presents the upper classes as being ruthless with the whole population working at the factory, obviously exaggerating matters in order for viewers to gain a distorted and overwhelming perception regarding conditions in the film. Instead of exaggerating matters with Ricci's treatment as a result of his crime, de Sica simply presents a perfectly normal reaction from the authorities and from the public.

Whereas they have several elements in common, soviet montage and Italian neorealist styles of filmmaking each have representative factors that differentiate them from one another and emphasize the concepts meant to be expressed by the motives standing behind these two approaches in regard to film.