Représailles

Excessive Retribution: Marcello Mastroianni, Richard Burton and the Ardeatine Caves Massacre

This film, which is well worth seeing, is dedicated to a particularly cruel event from the Second World War. In retaliation for a bomb attack that killed 33 members of the South Tyrolean police regiment, the National Socialist occupiers murdered 335 Italian civilians in the extensive cave system in the south of Rome.

The film, produced by Carlo Ponti (1912-2007), meticulously recreates the assassination attempt and subsequent massacre. The less than glorious role of Pope Pius XII is also made clear. GOLDEN GLOBE winner Marcello Mastroianni shines as Father Pietro Antonelli, who is determined to prevent disaster. His opponent is ACADEMY AWARD nominee Richard Burton as SS-Obersturmbannführer Herbert Kappler. The resistance fighters are played by Giancarlo Prete (places the bomb as a street sweeper) and Delia Boccardo. The original is by Robert Katz, the music is by ACADEMY AWARD winner Ennio Morricone (THE HATEFUL EIGHT) and the direction is by George Pan Cosmatos.

The German rental title "Tödlicher Error" can almost be described as a misrepresentation of history, the massacre in the Ardeatine Caves was an exorbitant act of retaliation!!!

Well worth seeing, but very painful history lesson!

This Rappresaglia(1973) deals with he Ardeatine massacre, or Fosse Ardeatine massacre (Italian: Eccidio delle Fosse Ardeatine), it was a mass killing of 335 civilians and political prisoners carried out in Rome on 24 March 1944 by German occupation troops during the Second World War as a reprisal for the Via Rasella attack in central Rome against the SS Police Regiment Bozen the previous day. The story of a resistance action that provoked a 10-for-one reprisal on the part of the nazis . A partisan attack takes place at a Roman street , and following the attack by the partisan group Lt. Col. Herbert Kappler (Richard Burton) is assigned by Hitler himself to carry out a relentless vengeance , but a kind priest (Marcello Mastroianni) opposing this criminal revenge . A savage act of reprisal - who was to blame? Hitler ordered it. The Vatican wouldn't stop it. The world will never forgive it. Who Wouldn't Stop It? 330 Cold Blooded Executions! It happened once...it could happen again! How Many? .

The picture is a little heavy and overlong , but it does have its moments of truth , particularly towards the final . Interpretations are uniformly decent , as Richard Burton as the Nazi commander officer who must execute hundreds of Roman citizens in retaliation for the death of Nazi soldiers and Marcello Mastroianni as the priest opposing the Nazi colonel and attempting to prevent the massacre . Support cast resulting to be pretty good with notorious British and Italian actors , such as : Leo Mckern overacting as the senior Nazi officer, former Brit matinee idol Anthony Steel in a minor character , John Steiner , Robert Harris , Peter Vaughn , Anthony Dawson , and Latin actors as Renzo Montagnani , Giancarlo Prete or Timothy Brent , Renzo Palmer , Duilio Del Prete , Marino Masé and Delia Boccardo. The motion picture was professionally directed by George Pan Cosmatos . He was a craftsman director who got a great success with ¨Tombstone¨and ¨Cassandra crossing¨ and flops as ¨Shadow conspiracy¨, ¨Leviatahan¨, ¨Escape to Athena¨ . ¨Massacre in Rome¨ rating : 6/10 . This wartime will appeal to WWII enthusiasts and Richard Burton/Marcelo Mastroianni fans.

This movie has a chilling subject matter, but there are a few too many unnecessary distractions along the way, which prevent it from getting down to the heart of the story as quickly as it should. It's still worth seeing, however, especially for fans of Richard Burton, who gives a compelling performance as a man caught in a mechanism that far surpasses him and forces him to do unthinkable deeds. And all this despite the obvious fact that Burton is miscast as a German officer with a distinctly British accent. (**1/2)

I like this movie because of its accuracy and the excellent acting of the main cast, and also of the supporting characters. The film is very dry though, and slow, and presumably not meant as pure entertainment. It is, in my view, a more or less accurate depiction of what happened, not a star vehicle for the brilliant actors Richard Burton (Lt. Col. Herbert Kappler) and Marcello Mastroianni (Father Pietro Antonelli). John Steiner is also superb as Col. Dollmann.

This is not a film for thrill-seekers. It is a film for those who enjoy good acting, direction and historical accuracy. The main actors were serious artists, and I am sure they were very happy to participate in this well-crafted, very structured and chilling account of the German occupation of Rome. I give it 8 out of 10 stars, and that's me being conservative.

On paper a war movie by producer Carlo Ponti and the director of 'Rambo' doesn't sound at all promising; especially as it stars Richard Burton and Marcello Mastroianni, who had between them made probably more junk than any reputable pair of actors then alive. But as Burton burns the midnight oil while he and his colleagues attempt with mounting desperation to find 320 eligible candidates then in custody for summary execution in reprisal for a bomb attack by partisans the film (co.adapted by Robert Katz from his own 1967 book 'Death in Rome') probably does a better job of fulfilling Godard's declaration that the most harrowing account of a massacre would be one detailing the logistical nightmare it would be for the perpetrators than Costa-Govras's 'Section Speciale' a couple of years later.

Being an Italian production it boasts authentic location work in Rome itself, along with several familiar British faces in the supporting cast (including Peter Vaughn as Field Martial Kesselring, who later served five years for giving the nod to the whole ghastly business).