Era notte a Roma

For starters - At an unbearable 134 minutes, this 1960, WW2 Drama, directed by Italian film-maker, Roberto Rossellini, was truly something of an endurance test for this frustrated and bored viewer.

Escape By Night's action (or lack of it) was set at such a deliberately s-l-o-w snail's pace, and every situation was dragged out beyond reason, that, sure enough, I ended up nodding off to sleep more than once.

On top of that, this wartime picture did not contain one, single battle scene in it. You can be sure, had a few worthwhile explosions taken place, here & there, that definitely would have helped to alleviate some of this story's stifling monotony.

In this tale of cat-n-mouse, all that Rossellini seemed concerned about was dealing with the trifling personal dramas that dogged its characters.

But, unfortunately, this directorial short-sightedness on Rosellini's part didn't go over very well with this viewer, since none of the characters in the story were really all that interesting or worthy of much attention to begin with.

Believe it or not - The absolute highlight of this mundane picture was when a turkey (that's right - a turkey!!) escaped from Esperia's home and this excitement sent all of the delighted, neighbourhood children scampering down the dirty street after it.

Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica are two directors known for being the premier Neo-Realists. A Neo-Realistic film is one which is not filmed on sets but in the natural environment. And, the actors in the movie aren't professional actors. And, the stories are about ordinary folks. They were made this way simply because Italy was in ruins following WWII and this was the only way the COULD make pictures. While "Escape by Night" is by Rossellini and looks a lot like a Neo-Realist film, it isn't quite. It sure has the look and the story is about ordinary folk but the people in the movie, at least in starring roles, are real honest-to-goodness actors--mostly because by 1960 the Italian film industry was strong and growing. Had the film been made a decade or so earlier, it probably would have been an actual example of Neo-Realism. Now this does not mean the movie is bad in any way...it's not.

This is the story of three soldiers who have escaped from a Fascist concentration camp, and American, an Englishman and a Russian. While this composition isn't realistic, it made for an interesting film. And, there were a lot of escaped Allied prisoners who were helped by ordinary Italians according to this film. The plot is VERY simple...the three men are shuttled from home to home to home until they could either make their escape or they would be liberated by the approaching troops.

The acting and sets are all very realistic and the film is engaging. Perhaps it's not exactly fun or a must-see but it is well made.

By the way, one of the more interesting cast members here is the Russian actor, Sergey Bondarchuk. While not a household name outside the old Soviet Union, this man was an incredibly brilliant director as well and helmed perhaps the most incredible Soviet movie ever made, "War and Peace". Depending on the edit, this sweeping sage is between 4 and 8 1/2 hours long! I'm crazy...I've seen it twice...the long version!

An user complained that Rossellini's movies are overlooked today;he is completely right.Although the Italian New Wave was never so hard and so nasty as their French counterpart on former colleagues,it nevertheless cast a shadow over them.On the European board ,there are plenty of messages about Fellini,Antonioni,Pasolini (and Godard,Truffaut ,Rohmer and co)whereas Rossellini (and De Sica,the great Luigi Comencini)are almost always absent.

He also complained about the cuts in Rossellini's works;however,what was intolerable in "Vanina Vanini" (the first part of which is thoroughly incomprehensible) is not so important in "Era Notte a Roma" . My copy has a running time of about 130 min and that's enough,for I think that it's overlong and even full of filler.

"Era Notte" tells the story of three escaped prisoners during WW2: a Russian,an English and an American.It's also the story of an Italian girl who helps the peasants to get rid of their burdensome guests in exchange for food.She's not a resistance fighter (as his fiancé is) but she will prove herself very human in spite of her weakness.

Rossellini displays respect for the audience: every character speaks his own language ,which gives the movie much more substance than ,for instance ," Uomo della croce " in which everyone spoke Italian.My favorite scene is the Christmas celebration with a very moving "Auld Lang Syne" sung by people from four different countries.It cannot be considered one of Rossellini 's masterworks but its several moments of brilliance make it a must for Rossellini's fans.

I like a lot of Rossellini, but there is the odd clinker. Here's why:

it's not sure if it's propaganda, documentary or drama, or all three ; it's set in a blackout, so it's more unrelieved grey than black and white; it's largely set in tenement garrets, though some odd scenes elsewhere; there are few attractive compositions, except repeated shots of the Rome skyline; it has national clichés instead of characters: impulsive American, reserved Brit, bad German, good German, bad fascist, emotional Italian etc. ; the characters enter and leave the film almost at random ; the dramatic scenes aren't, they stop and start abruptly and are poorly linked; plot developments seem to come out of nowhere; the interesting things often happen off screen; characters' behaviour is often reckless to the point of incredulity.

Apparently rewritten, screenplayed, edited and scored on the hoof, with a great deal of family involvement,and I'm afraid it shows. sorry for being so negative.

Can no one have seen this important Rossellini film? Astonishing it is to be the first to comment in these "pages" on a work by one of the major directors of world cinema (and for the second time -- no one else had commented on "Vanina Vanini" either). Apparently this 145 minute film (that is how it clocked in at the showing I attended) received very little distribution, and, though it is excellent, it is not hard to see why this was so. Its story of three Allied soldiers, one English, one American, one Russian, on the loose in an as-yet-unliberated Italy, is short on wild excitement, but filled with interesting detail and human warmth. Giovanna Ralli is marvelous (and would have been a marvelous Vanina Vanini, if only...) in a complex and emotional role. Peter Baldwin and Renato Salvatori are winningly handsome young men (and are rather lookalikes), and Leo Genn and Sergei Bondarchuk provide solid acting. Rossellini's use of the zoom to make possible "intercutting without cuts" is used to great effect in this film, and the scene in which the spy/informer eavesdrops on the confessional is especially masterful. One of Rossellini's last films before he decided to devote himself exclusively to the small screen, this film is sober, serious, worthy, and, withal, not lacking in value as entertainment. Postscript: I've now had a chance two years later (December 2008) to re-view this film, thanks to a new (and very inexpensive) DVD region 1 release. My second viewing has led me to revise (upward) my evaluation of this beautiful film. Yes, it's long, and seems episodic, but, as in Chekhov's plays and (odd pairing, I know) McCarey's "The Bells of St. Mary's," on second viewing the connections between the episodes are profound and satisfying. The Lionsgate DVD (paired with a second little-known Rossellini feature, "Dov'e la liberta) is a real bargain (available for under $15). The print appears better than that on the region 2 UK disc (see screen captures at DVDBeaver.com), and, though the titles are in French (this is a Franco-Italian co-production) the title itself is given in Italian, unlike that on the UK version. Running time is 2:13.5, compared to 2:08 and change on the region 2 disc (accounted for by the PAL speedup). Subtitles are excellent and unusually thorough. My previously stated running time of 145 is confirmed by Jose Luis Guarnier within the text of his Praeger Film Library monograph from 1970 (though his filmography gives 120 minutes!) There is a strange mis-match in the editing in the first attic scene, which may indicate some foul play. I can't recall any specific missing scene, though. Details aside, this really is a great film.