Cinema
Rome, Open City
Roma città aperta
Roberto Rossellini · 1945
Synopsis
Rome, under the German occupation. Giorgio Manfredi, an engineer and Communist leader of the Resistance wanted by the Gestapo, takes refuge with Francesco, an anti-fascist typographer, who is to marry Pina, a pregnant neighbour. Through her, he comes into contact with Don Pietro, a parish priest who carries money and messages to the partisans outside the city. But the Gestapo tightens its grip on the neighbourhood and prepares a roundup.
Context
Shooting began in January 1945 in a Rome only just liberated, without studios, Cinecittà being damaged and requisitioned, and almost without film stock: offcuts that had been salvaged were used. Only a few interior sets were built, the rest was filmed in real places in the city. The screenplay is by Sergio Amidei and Federico Fellini, with the director and other writers. Anna Magnani, who plays Pina, found in it the role that made her known outside Italy. The film opens the trilogy its author devoted to the war.
Who it is for
A film of about an hour and three quarters, in Italian, shot in the streets of Rome; some scenes are directly violent.
Prizes and reception
Grand Prix at Cannes at the very first festival, in 1946, and the Silver Ribbon for best film in Italy the same year.
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