Le Général de la Rovere

Concerning a WWII marketeer and swindler called Bardone : Vittorio De Sica , he often uses to disguise as an officer to get money from the the families of people put in prison by the Gestapo . Once trapped , the Nazis make a deal with him . Then he is forced by a Nazi Colonel Muller : Hannes Messerner to go undercover in a local jail. To find out who the resistance leader is , he poses as a General called Della Rovere . But when the inmates start looking him for guidance , it leads to tragic consequences . He's a Hero...or a Fake ?

This General Della la Rovere 1969 magnificently played by Vittorio De Sica as a petty con man deals with the fantastic wartime adventures and intrigues of the mountebank who held the fate of the fighting undergroung in his hands . Eventually , our hero finds the line between his assumed character and actual identity diminished , awakening his slumbering conscience, resulting in a dramatic conclusion . It contains an interesting and thought-provoking screenplay from Indro Montanelli , Sergio Amadei , Fabbri and Roberto Rossellini himself . Starring Vittorio De Sica is well accompanied by a good cast , such as : Hannes Messemer , Sandra Milo , Anne Vernon , Vittorio Caprioli , Giovanna Ralli , Franco Interlenghi , Linda Veras, Modugno, Luciano Pigozi or Allan Collins , among others.

There is another inferior version 2011 directed by Carlo Carlei starrred by Pierfrancesco Faviano and Shopov . Il Generale Della Rovere 1959 displays an evocative cinematography in black and white by Carlo Cardini . As well as atmospheric and sensitive musical score by Renzo Rossellini . The motion picture was stunningly directed by Roberto Rosselini . He was a prestigious writer and director, making notorious films, such as : "Paisan" , "The Miracle" , "Amore" , "Stromboli" , "The Flowers of St Francis" , "Europe" , " Voyage in Italy" , "Seven Deadly Sins" , "Blas Pascal", "The Rise of Louis XIV" , "Agustín of Hippo" , "The Messiah" , among others . Rating : 7.5/10. Above average, well worth seeing . Especially recommended for featuring a bravura lead interpretation by veteran Vittorio De Sica .

Winner of many top international festival prizes, this was one of Roberto Rossellini's most widely seen films in America after OPEN CITY and PAISAN. It is a superbly written, directed, and acted drama about a petty conniver, Bertone, alias Grimaldi, played by Vittorio De Sica in what is possibly his greatest acting role. He is not above loving people and swindling them at the same time. He does this to survive the hard times of Mussolini's Salo' Republic period. The film is set in Genoa after the Badoglio armistice has been signed with the Allies in the south. Bertone tries to help Italians who have relatives imprisoned by the Nazis. Sometimes he can help; other times he cannot but always takes their money. When his game is finally up, he is imprisoned but offered an opportunity by the Germans. He is to impersonate a revered partisan leader already killed by the Nazis in order to furnish them information on another partisan leader in the anti-fascist underground. It is at this point that Bertone gradually undergoes a transformation, choosing patriotism over capitulation. The con-man becomes a hero. Other standout performances here are given by Sandra Milo as a prostitute, Hannes Messemer as the Nazi commandant and Vittorio Caprioli as an inmate barber.

Though I've only seen this film once, when I was actually young, it has remained one of my lifetime 'greatest' films. It deals with how each of us has a self image, and how that self image, and the lives we lead, may be influenced by how others view us. This is, I think, one of the great common themes of our lives - and this movie examines it beautifully. Though I saw it so long ago, I still remember it each time I see an example of its theme played out in today's events. Most notably, in the U.S., it has been shown in the direction that many (but not all) of our Supreme Court justices take once they receive their lifetime posts. Their thoughts, no matter how narrow they had been, become wider and wiser once that mantle of office settles onto their personalities. This great movie prepared me to see and understand this miraculous process - and others like it.

I fully agree with all the glowing accolades of other commenters and totally disagree with the one commenter who thought it was "uneven." This is one of the greatest films ever made, partly because the humanity of the characters and the choices they must make are really what life is all about. If only present-day film makers (producers, directors, writers, etc) would concentrate their efforts towards making films of this caliber, what a much better world this would be. Instead, desiring profits over quality, they go for the lowest common denominator, and continue to make films bereft of the poetry of life, and full of gore, violence, guns, explosions, terror, and all sorts of ugliness and gratuitous noise. They think "this is what the public wants." How wrong they are. One interesting aside: I believe that Rosselini wasn't really as satisfied with this film as much as audiences are. If that rumor is true, it can only be an example of an artist not realizing the impact and importance of a particular work they have created.

Roberto Rossellini, as a filmmaker, cannot be compared to anyone else. Not because of any camera technique but because his mind, to tell a story, took shortcuts through truly dangerous territories. The nervous center of the Italian human nature is dissected with fierceness, compassion and even a touch of admiration. Redemption coming in the most unexpected form as a last, final test. Who am I, really? Could I at the last moment of my life become the man I always wanted to be? Beautiful, poignant, terrifying. Vittorio De Sica gives one the best performances of his eclectic and extraordinary career. The traveling of his thoughts seem to come out of the screen with the same intensity as his real smallness, his fear, his painful self awareness. Truth, with all is uncomfortable connotations 24 frames a second.