The cinematic techniques further enhance this sense that the film is bearing solemn testimony to this sacrifice. Music: Renzo Rossellini. However, each narrative is complete in itself, acutely depicting the nebulous struggles in a war-torn society. Directed by Roberto Rossellini. But despite Rossellini’s overt religious concerns, the film is mostly about individuals retaining their humanity while living amidst a barbarous invading force. In the months following the Nazi withdrawal from Rome in June 1944, with the city’s film studios out of action, Roberto Rossellini took to the ruined streets with salvaged film stock to capture the recent traumas of occupation in their harrowing immediacy. She epitomizes the resistance of ordinary Italians. [Country: Italy. Production Company: Excelsa Film. The innovations utilized here have now become standard film-making practice. By the late 1940s, cinema had itself become one of Italy’s key political battlegrounds, as the socially progressive neorealist trend was championed by the PCI and condemned by the DC in equal measure. Francesco and Pina share an intimate moment in the tenement stairwell, reminiscing about the past and expressing hopes and fears for the future. The story behind the making of Rossellini’s third directorial venture, Rome, Open City (‘Roma citta aperta’,1945) is widely familiar among cinephiles: that it was shot in the final months of World War II using film stock acquired through the black market; it led to the inception of Italian neorealism and subsequently the postwar renaissance of European cinema; acclaimed auteur Frederico Fellini worked … Celebrating its 70th anniversary, "Rome, Open City" is a world cinema landmark, but that dusty, respectful word does not do justice to a film that has not lost its power to surprise and even shock. Roma città aperta must be considered in this context, as a purposeful mediation of these events in the very moment at which they are passing into the realm of ‘history’ and attaining their singular discursive force. Rome, Open City was the first in a trilogy of films by Rossellini showcasing the impact of war on impoverished Italian populace (Paisan [1946] & Germany, Year Zero [1948] were the other two). Moreover, Rossellini attempted to express this vision by using the titular city as an integral part to narrative development. 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During the Nazi occupation of Rome in 1944, the Resistance leader, Giorgio Manfredi, is chased by the Nazis as he seeks refuge and a way to escape. The first half of Rome, Open City provides different narrative entry points – atheistic head of Italian resistance, a traitorous showgirl, a genial priest aiding the members of resistance, preteen hooligans, and a pious, affectionate pregnant mother. This dramatic construction is most apparent when Rossellini deploys episodes of melodramatic or comic amplification, which are woven into the narrative structure for maximum impact. It may be long and difficult, but there will be a better world for all our children: Marcello, and the one we are expecting’ – both emphasise the fact that she is pregnant with his child and link this fact to a brighter future free of tyranny. Jean-Luc Godard, whose own early filmmaking practice owed much to the experimental approach of neorealism, put a seal on this legacy by declaring: ‘All roads lead to Rome, Open City’ (Brunetta 2009: 117). Rome, Open City is a film directed by Roberto Rossellini with Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani, Marcello Pagliero, Maria Michi .... Year: 1945. But tomorrow, when you occupy Rome … will these monarchic officials stick by you?’ Doubtless, these lines serve the diegetic purpose of further emphasising the fortitude of the Italian spirit. Directed by Roberto Rossellini in a documentary style that was innovative for the time, the movie brought international attention to the Neorealist movement and became one of its defining works, influencing numerous later filmmakers. Rome, Open City has been canonized as the ultimate example of neorealism for both its aesthetic and theoretical techniques. Manfredi and Don Pietro’s deeds come across as a resolute symbol of resistance, yet their form of heroism doesn’t involve gun and violence. When Manfredi’s prolonged ordeal at the hands of the Gestapo at last leads to his demise, Bergmann instructs his clerk to record the cause of death as a heart attack, and the deceased’s name as ‘Giovanni Episcopo’ (the alias Manfredi used when he was in hiding), so as not to give the Resistance another martyr. Manfredi’s response is to spit in the Nazi’s face, and immediately afterwards his martyrdom is completed as he is trussed up in a Christ-like pose to be tortured to death. Cast: Aldo Fabrizi (Don Pietro), Anna Magnani (Pina), Marcello Pagliero (Giorgio Manfredi), Harry Feist (Major Bergmann), Francesco Grandjacquet (Francesco), Vito Annichiarico (Marcello).]. Magnani, known for playing strong, full-bodied characters, is the archetypal maternal figure here, who exudes warm optimism despite having lost her first husband to the fascists. 1. Insofar as it seeks to define ‘the nation’ at a moment of crisis, Roma città aperta certainly offers a valuable insight into Italy’s attempts to emerge from the Fascist era, and to tread a path out of the rubble of warfare and occupation. Original title: Roma città aperta. The location: Nazi occupied Rome. Local priest Don Pietro (Aldo Fabrizi) revolts against the Nazis in his own way by aiding Manfredi. Gian Piero Brunetta, The History of Italian Cinema, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2009. Cinematographer: Ubaldo Arata. Such a binary reading of Italy’s cinematic culture in the post-war years, however, conceals the complexities that surrounded this film’s emergence.