CONSENSUS #31. Rome, Open City (1945)

 

SYNOPSIS:  “Rome, Open City” is squarely in the resistance  sub-genre.  It is a rare one set in Italy in WWII.  A Resistance leader named Manfredi is on the lam and is aided by a priest.  The movie splits time between the underground and their families and the dastardly Germans who catch and torture them.  It is the most famous of the neorealist style.

 

BACK-STORY:  “Rome, Open City” is a cinematic masterpiece by acclaimed director Roberto Rossellini.  It was set and filmed in Italy in 1945 during the waning days of Nazi occupation.  It was shot in the streets of Rome.  The crude look to the cinematography was the result of the lack of funding, the damaged studio, and the circumstances.  It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and won the Palme D’Or at Cannes.  It is a landmark in the Italian neorealist movement.  These films were noted for a general atmosphere of authenticity, immediacy as in being shot on location, use of nonprofessionals in roles, documentary style cinematography, and children in major roles.

 

TRIVIA:

 

Wikipedia

1.  The name comes from the fact that Rome was declared an “open city” on August 14, 1943.

2.  It won the Grand Prize at Cannes and was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards.

3.  It all started when a wealthy old Italian woman offered to finance a documentary about the Catholic priest Don Pieto Morosini who was executed for involvement with partisans.  Later, she also wanted to sponsor a documentary about children in the resistance.  The two ideas were combined into one fiction movie.  The financing was not enough to fund the movie so director Frederico Fellini sold everything he owned to bring the movie to completion.

4.  The movie was one of the first great examples of Italian NeoRealism cinema.  This movement featured stories about the lives of common people, shooting on location, and use of nonprofessional actors.  In this film the  only significant actors were Aldo Fabrizi as the priest and Anna Magnani as Pina.

5.  Different film stocks were used – whatever was available.  Some of it was provided by Rod Geiger of the U.S. Signal Corps.

6.  Fellini made use of German POWs to play the German soldiers.

7.  The premiere was whistled (booed) and the movie was not popular in Italy until it was lauded in other countries.

 

Belle and Blade  =  N/A

Brassey’s              =  4.0

Video Hound       =  N/A

War Movies         =  N/A

Military History  =  #25

Channel 4             =  #87

Film Site                =  yes

101 War Movies  =  yes

        Rotten Tomatoes  =  no 

 

HISTORICAL ACCURACY:  The movie is supposedly based on real events as told to Rossellini by actual Resistance members.  This makes it hard to verify.  Let’s assume the events in the film actually happened.  That is plausible.  The movie does not depict anything that is obviously ridiculous or improbable.  Even the young boys sabotaging the German war effort is based on reality.

                One of the characters (Don Pietro) is clearly based on a real person.  Don Pieto Morosini was a Catholic priest who was part of the Resistance.  My research could not confirm any of his actions in the movie, but the death scene is close to his execution.  The last words are authentic.  The firing squad did miss.  The killing was actually done by an Italian officer, not a German.  A telling decision by Rossellini?  He does have characters that are collaborators, but overall the movie is lenient toward the Italian public.   

OPINION:  “Rome, Open City” is a cinematic classic and deserves its fame.  It has an immediacy to it that makes it unique, especially for back then.  It has been best described as looking like a newsreel.  The cinematography is not jaw dropping, but if you know the back-story, it’s remarkable.  Rossellini had to overcome such obstacles that you have to admire the finished product.  The blending of film stocks is a standout feature.  Rossellini had to use what was available.  However, there’s the rub.  If you don’t know the full story behind the production, the movie does not have the same impact.

                The acting is what you would expect from a production like this.  Fabrizi is the top performer.  His Don Pietro is humane, humorous, and a hero.  He provides the comic relief like the frying pan silencing.  There is also a whimsical scene involving a naked statue.  Without him, the movie would have been too bleak.  The rest of the cast is average and many are playing stereotypes.  For a movie of such consequence, it is perplexing why Rossellini would include such sore thumbs like the Gestapo chief and the lesbian agent.  You would not expect hissable villains.  But I suppose if I had lived through the Nazi and fascist days, I might put a vampirish lesbian and an effeminate torturer in also.

                The themes are basic.  Good versus evil.  Normal people doing heroic things because the situation calls for it.  Civilians trying to live their lives in wartime.  Freedom is worth dying for.  None of this is ground-breaking.  The plot does not match the production.  If it did, this would be a masterpiece.  As it is, the movie could have done with more concentration on the more unorthodox elements like the children saboteurs.

                In conclusion, once again I am confronted with a movie that must be highly rated by critics because of its historical importance moreso than its actual quality.  It is assuredly a must-see for anyone interested in the history of cinema and specifically Italian neorealism, but purely as a war movie it is nothing special.  I admire what Rossellini went through and the movie is truly a great accomplishment.  This must have been a large part of the reasoning by critics.  It could be argued that it is the #31 most important war movie ever made, but you cannot replace” important” with “greatest” or “best” and even put it in the Top 100.  It will not make my list of the 100 Best because I am not judging the films on importance.  I am looking at two main factors:  historical accuracy / realism and quality.  “Rome, Open City” does not make a case for itself in either area.  I would not put it ahead of the other Resistance movies I have reviewed:  Army of Crime, Flame and Citron, Black Book, and Army of Shadows (none of which made the Greatest 100).  All of those are more entertaining than "Rome, Open City".