182: Paisan

Paisa

ITA   126m   Dir: Roberto Rossellini  

Original Screenplay

Paisan is set in the late stages of World War II as the Americans fought to liberate Italy. The film is split into six unconnected episodes. In each one, local people have interactions with American soldiers whilst the fighting is still happening.  

• 1st episode: Local girl Carmela travels with an American patrol in the hope she can reach her family. There are some great scenes as she and American soldier Joe interact despite the language barrier. It ends really tragically in a way that made me gasp out loud. 

• 2nd episode: In Naples, street urchin Pasquale befriends drunken African-American soldier Joe. This episode felt like it lasted too long and very little actually happens but it's rather sweet in its own way.

• 3rd episode: Drunk US soldier Fred tells prostitute Francesca about a woman he met early in the war. It transpires that the woman is Francesca but both people had been changed so much by the war that they didn't recognise each other. This episode was a different kind of tragic, less about death and destruction and more about the emotional turmoil of war.

• 4th episode: Nurse Harriet and partisan Massimo team up in an attempt to cross Florence to find their family. This is the most exciting episode and feels like a more traditional war story but it's still good and has yet another tragic ending. 

• 5th episode: Three American chaplains arrive at a rural monastery that has been mostly unaffected by the way. This was the episode I connected with the least, perhaps because it is about how war affects your spiritual beliefs. 

• 6th episode: Three American soldiers work with Italian partisans behind German lines. The episode highlights the unity between soldiers and locals but it has the most tragic ending of all of them with the barbarity of the Nazis really highlighted. 

Altogether, the film is a fascinating exploration of a period of World War II and the interaction between Italians and US soldiers. I much preferred some episodes to others but none are terrible and some are incredible.