Open City (1945)
1945 (1946 US), Mayer & Burstyn. Directed by Roberto Rossellini. Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani, Marcello Pagliero, Harry Feist, Vito Annichiarico, Nando Bruno.
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Open City (DVD)
Open City (VHS)
One of the 15 films listed in the category "Values" on the Vatican film list. A National Catholic Register "Video/DVD Picks" film.
By Steven D. Greydanus
Developed in Rome during the Nazi occupation, shot in the still war-torn Roman streets shortly after the Nazi withdrawal, Roberto Rossellini’s Open City stunned audiences the world over who recognized in it an unmediated authenticity more evocative of the documentary quality of wartime newsreels than of the artificiality of earlier, more conventional WWII dramas.
This sense of raw reality was in part due to a number of factors that later became hallmarks of what would be called the Italian neo-realist movement — though Rossellini chose them more for pragmatic than aesthetic reasons.
Rossellini shot with available light on real locations in the battered Roman streets in part because the studios had been bombed, and sets and lighting were out of the question. Because there was no money for a professional cast, he employed an ensemble of mostly nonprofessional actors who gave unmannered, naturalistic performances because they were simply enacting the drama rather than trying to create characters. Even for filmstock he had only whatever miscellaneous leftover remnants he could find — including abandoned German newsreel footage — resulting in an uneven, assemblage-like quality.
Just as important to the film — and to the later neorealist movement — is the humanistic values that unite Italian Catholics (represented by a heroic priest) and Communists against the Nazi occupation.
The story, co-written by Rossellini and Federico Fellini, doesn’t center around a single heroic character, but tells an ensemble story that allows not just dedicated resistance leaders like Giorgio Manfredi (Marcello Pagliero) but also ordinary citizens like pregnant single mother Pina (Anna Magnani), the priest Don Pietro (Aldo Fabrizi), and even children like Marcello (Vito Annichiarico) to play a role in resisting the Nazi occupiers and fight for their country.
One weakness is inexplicably spotty, hard (non-removable) period subtitles; the story is easy to follow, but a good bit of dialogue will be lost (except to those who know Italian, for whom the subtitles will be an unavoidable annoyance).
Buy at Amazon.com
Open City (DVD)
Open City (VHS)
Depictions of wartime torture and violence, including the execution of a priest; references to nonmarital pregnancy; implied homosexuality.
