I'm usually harsh on this one because it has the most rigid classical structure of all Rossellini's work (which Rossellini himself considered a flaw), but every time I see this film it is so moving, so incredibly powerful on a gut level. One leaves this film feeling like a wounded animal. I'm not usually one for ranking filmmakers, but I'm beginning to fell that Rossellini is, bar none, the greatest.
I only have Ford and Bunuel as high as RR. You need to come out of the shadows more, Neil, and participate in the World Cup or something. BTW- I've got a link to Ford's Bucking Broadway, courtesy of Greg X, if you're interested.
By the way, have you seen any of Rossellini's "facist" films? Eg. The White Ship, A Pilot Returns, etc? I've wanted to see them for so long.
This is pretty stunning on a gut level (Magnani's death scene, come to think of it, every major character's death scene), but did the Germans all have to be mustache-twisting homosexuals? I still haven't seen Germany Year Zero, which I'm hoping will prove that Rossellini wasn't quite as simple-minded about the enemy as he comes off here. Still, this is a must-see, incredibly powerful and immediate.
Wow really impressive! Did this remind anybody of The Battle of Algiers abit, accept much more melodramatic.
A film whose timing is almost as impressive as it's pull no punches mentality. Rossellini desires to address the attachment of every man, woman, and child that were participants, however direct, in the Second World War in an attempt to deal with the trauma and ensure that in some way it will never happen again.
Rossellini's passion is weaved heavily throughout this film and it is wrenching in the best possible way.
I agree the representation of Nazi occupation was cliché, but it doesn't affect the importance of this amazing film. what makes Rome Open City a truly awesome one, is the conditions at the time this film was made.
Sempre que alguém me pergunta qual o melhor filme que eu já vi, este é um dos primeiros - senão o primeiro - que vem à memória. Não pelo aspecto formal, nem pela primazia de ter aberto as portas do neorealismo para o mundo. Mas porque é um dos filmes mais próximos do meu coração. Além de tê-lo assistido ao lado de minha avó materna pela primeira vez, mostra muito bem o que meu pai testemunhou aos 22 anos, na guerra.
A work of stunning lucidity and beauty. Dom Pietro and Pina are extraordinary characters.
A little surprised by how melodramatic it was ( a lot like Indian films of the time ), but it was still very powerful and moving.
"We mustn't be afraid now or in the future," says Francesco, "because we are on the just path." Loaded with the kind of raw power that sneaks up on you and slaps you in the face, Rome Open City is totally devastating and immediate, a masterpiece of the post-war Italian realism movement.
I was fortunate enough to see this at the Pacific Film Archive the other day. The print was grainy and the subtitles were scarce but the story, language barrier aside, was so powerful that one couldn't possibly confuse what Rossellini wanted to say
