Roma citta aperta
ITA 105m Dir: Roberto Rossellini
Original Screenplay
The Nazi Occupation of Italy is a part of World War Two that is rarely discussed but for its inhabitants, it was an incredibly difficult time, coming after the already difficult time of a fascist Italian government.
The film sees the SS in Rome trying to track down the leader of the Italian Resistance Luigi Ferraris. The local people try to help and protect Ferraris whilst trying to go about their own lives. He is hiding with fellow resistance fighter Francesco who is engaged to Pina. The pair are due to be married by Catholic Priest Don Pietro who is also helping the resistance.
Interestingly, the film takes inspiration from the work of Sergei Eisenstein and the focus is on the collective rather than individuals. This is a film that highlights the passion and heroism of the Italian people during this awful period of history. The closest thing to a main character though is the priest Don Pietro- the idea of a priest helping the resistance is a conflict in itself and Don Pietro proves to be an incredibly brave man.
I was sort of expecting the film to give us a glorious ending where the Italians win at least this small fight but no, the film ends in the most devastating way. Italians are stereotypically emotional people but the devastation that is seen on screen is delivered so matter-of-factly. I think it's perhaps partly because as a viewer you feel the emotion and don't require cinematic trickery to amplify it, partly because sinking into that level of emotion would be unbearable and also because people at the time had little choice but to carry on their lives despite the devastating things they had gone through.
This is another of those films of its era that defied the odds to get made. Production started in January 1945, after the war had finished in Italy, but the previously thriving film industry in Italy was all but wiped out. It's not entirely clear where the funding came from- a local wool merchant was at least partly responsible. Film stock was hard to get hold of and it was down to US Signalman Rod E. Geiger who provided the production with film stock that the Signal Corps had thrown away. Even the studio was damaged and then used by the Allied Forces to house displaced people and this is partly why the film was largely shot on location. It was a huge effort just to get it made but to create something so moving from that is astounding.
This is not the easiest of films to get hold of in the UK and the only version I could find seemed to have English subtitles that were used around the time the film was released. These seem to opt to ignore any dialogue the subtitle considered irrelevant so there are plenty of times people are talking and no subtitles are given. It wasn't unbearable but I would have much rather have had the full experience.
Never melodramatic but hugely devastating, this is a defining moment in Italian cinema that depicts a defining moment in Italian history.
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