Rome, ville ouverte

It is hard to overestimate the influence of "Rome, open city" on the history of film.

There is much debate if "Rome open city" is the first neo realist movie. Some are of the opinion that already "Ossessione" (1943, Luchino Visconti) complied with the characteristics of this movement, although one can also classify this movie (based on a novel by James M. Cain) as film noir. There is however little discussion about the fact that "Rome, open city" was the breakthrough of neo realism.

Prepared during war time, shot while the Second World War was still raging in parts of Italy this film bears all characteristics that would become the trade marks of neo realism: shot on location, mostly non professional actors and a real life story adjacant to a documentary. Unlike the Danish "dogma" movement decades later these choices were not entirely made out of free will, but largely inspired by the lack of infrastructure after the Second World War. "Rome, open city" is for example shot with film stock that is definitely second rate. This is of course not a trademark of neo realism, there simply was no film stock of better quality available.

Most of the actors were non professional, but there were a few exceptions. Anna Magnani was one of the exceptions and after "Rome, open city" she went on to become a big star that worked with great Italian directors like Fellini, Visconti and Pasolini. In "Rome, open city" she dies halfway, but her dying scene is realy heartbreaking. A few years later she would shine as a mother who would do anything to make her daughter a moviestar in "Bellissima" (1951, Luchino Visconti).

Anna Magnani is by far the most well known actress from "Rome, open city", but I would like to also call attention to some of the other actors.

Maria Michi is a beautiful girl working in a cabaret who is addicted to drugs (and luxuries) and so becomes dependend on the Nazi's. After "Rome, open city" Michi would also play in Rossellini's "Paisa" (1946) but after that her career came to a halt.

Even less impressive is the career of Harry Feist, who plays the evil German. In fact "Rome, open city" would remain his only film of importance. Remarkable to me was his physical likeness with Donald Sutherland in "Novecento" (1976, Bernardo Bertolucci), who also plays a Second World War villian in that movie.

After "Rome, open city", which is situated in occupied Italy, Rossellini made two other war movies. "Paisa" (1946) is about the liberation of Italy by the Americans, "Germania anno zero" (1948) is about Germany after the war.

"Rome, open city" is famous as the breakthrough of both neo realism and Anna Magnani, and rightly so. It is however not the best neo realist movie (nor the best movie of Anna Magnani, of whom I like the aformentioned "Bellissima" more). The film has some flaws, and these are not all attributable to the difficult circumstances under which it was produced. The monologue of the disillusioned German Captain Hartmann, openly criticizing the "Third Reich" with other German officers present, does not seem very realistic to me.

As a director Roberto Rossellini thus had his limitations. My favourite neo realist director was and remains Vittorio de Sica, with masterpieces such as "Bycicle thieves" (1948) and "Umberto D" (1952).

In Axis-controlled Rome, a strong-willed priest Aldo Fabrizi (as Pietro Pellegrini) plans to officiate the marriage of matronly and pregnant Anna Magnani (as Pina) while assisting a resistance leader Marcello Pagliero (as Giorgio Manfredi) hunted by the Nazis. This neo-realistic classic has shown its seams, over the years; in my most recent viewing, the soundtrack music, while not bad in itself, would have added much by its exclusion. Still, this is a powerful drama, with chilling last scenes involving the principal characters that do not diminish in their intensity. This was widely considered the best foreign language film of the year, by which time director Roberto Rossellini had released the similarly acclaimed "Paisan" (1946).

******** Roma, citta aperta (9/27/45) Roberto Rossellini ~ Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani, Marcello Pagliero, Maria Michi

Rome after the Second World War was a damaged, destroyed city. The huge film industry that had once been known all over Europe was, quite literally, in ruins.

Hence, when Roberto Rossellini took up his camera in 1945 to start shooting 'Open City', he was forced to make due with quite a few limitations: using scavenged film stock, whatever kind he could get his hands on; shooting outside and on location; and employing a much more dynamic, though much less controlled, form of cinematography than Italian cinema had previously seen. The result was an unpolished, rough gem of a film that, in addition to its many contributions to the evolution of cinema, left the pre-war Italian super-spectacle in the dust.

In terms of story, 'Open City' is pure melodrama; and a pretty, darn affecting one at that. Thematically, it's socialist, a reaction against the fascism, personified by Mussolini, that had just been defeated in Italy. But, it is in its style that the film truly stands out.

With 'Open City', Rossellini succeeded in taking adverse conditions and using them to craft a solid, emotional tale of the Italian resistance. In the process, he solidified the aesthetic of an entire film movement: Italian Neorealism.

The film is recommended to anyone who enjoys a good story, is interesting as an artifact of its historical period, and is absolutely indispensable to anyone with at least a passing interest in the history of cinema.

Like so many movies made during or shortly after WWII, this one reveals more about the circumstances of its creation than anything novel in the story line. Stock good guys and bad guys fill the screen, and the sombre tone of it all trumps any truly objective attempt to critique it according to some dispassionate set of standards. The fact that it was made at all and continues to be shown to appreciative audiences via cable television speaks for itself.

The strength of the production lies indeed in powerful individual scenes and some inspired acting. It captures attention from the beginning and holds the viewer rapt until the final minutes, even though the cinematic values are at best crude, requiring a forgiving eye. One identifies easily with its emotional force.

That said, its shortcomings are rather obvious. The Nazis are mainly not native speakers of German, with accents ranging from Dutch to Italian, and the one German officer who speaks ill of the "master race" is in his cups rather than a sober judge of the evil around him. The viewer would do well to remember that fascism in Italy was a homegrown phenomenon well before the Germans took over the show in 1944. Note how the Red Menace is thrown in the face of patriotic Italians as a ploy to gain their acquiescence to Nazi control. Elements of moral decadence among the evildoers likewise diminishes rather than enhances the proposition that they are rational perpetrators of that evil, bent on excusing their acts by twisting the truth to suit their own agenda.

Yet this was a contemporaneous Italian reflection on fresh history, and that cannot be faulted by 21st Century revisionists. It also restored a vital industry to Italy, and presaged many great films that followed it.

Over time, Rossellini's legacy has been overshadowed by that of his contemporaries Fellini and de Sica. There are reasons for this. Fellini had a unique cinematographic eye and a gift for abstract symbolism. De Sica was able to capture the incidental and indeterminate in a way that practically elevated it to the level of the holy. His use of non-actors was far more effective than Rossellini's, as was Fellini's use of actors. Rossellini's scripts were often two-dimensional, his cinematography spotty and his editing odd. So why is it that he occupies a leading position among Italian auteurs?

In fact, Rossellini was not a neo-realist, but a realist. Compared with products of the neo-realists, his films are thin and wooden. If, on the other hand, one views them as works of tragedy, they are excellent. From the very start of Open City, it is clear that the seeds of disaster are sewn. A pregnant mother is to be married to a member of the resistance. Members of the clergy and children are also involved in fighting the Nazis. Italians are united against a common enemy: Fascism. Yet we know that, while victory is inevitable, so is death. Perhaps it is the darkness of the tight, seedy interiors that tips us off. Perhaps it is because we do not feel that sense of endlessness beyond the screen, but that we are being led through these building and streets along with the characters. Perhaps is is the German marching songs. Whatever it is, we feel the march of destiny leading us to some terrible conclusion. Fate can never play a role in neo-realist work; by Bazin's definition, it is constructed organically and arrives at its destination as if by chance. Tragedy can only be the purview of the realist.

Open City is not without its liabilities. For one, Arata's cinematography, while startling at times, is unsatisfactory at others. The script, written by Fellini and Amidei, is confusing and allows for minimal character development. [N.B.: The English subtitles add to this confusion, excising whole chunks of crucial dialogue.] Several of the performances are undynamic, such as those of Maria Michi and Carla Rovere; the villains, portrayed by Giovanna Gallett and Harry Feist, are very much "in type"; Aldo Fabrizi, who, as Don Pietro, is so central to the plot, is guilty of overacting. Above all, one doesn't get the sense that Rossellini's camera "falls in love" with its subjects the way that one might wish it did. Yet it is in this very impassiveness, this plastic script and detached camera, that the key to Open City lies. This is not a film about a painter and his son, nor does it lovingly portray an old pensioner and his dog. This film is about the horrors of war, not a subject for which Rossellini expects to find an empathetic audience. In the absence of footlights and the invisible "third wall", he uses the greatest tool at his disposal to create tragic theater: our own lack of nobility.

Open City is a portrait of human courage in the face of overwhelming odds. It confronts us with horrors which, God willing, we may never know. Don't watch it expecting to fall in love with the grittiness of World War II era Italy. Expect to be deeply moved.