Review of Rossellini's Rome Open City

I first became interested in film history after taking a Contemporary Film Analysis course. Through the books I read for that course I received an introduction to Cinema History. One of the major European Cinema movements grew out of post-war Italy. This movement was called neo-realism. Now what neo-realism means is too vast a subject for me to discuss in this short review. However, the film that I will review, Roberto Rossellini’s Rome Open City is viewed as the first neo-realist film, and, perhaps, the best film of the movement. Rossellini began making films immediately after the fall of the fascists in Italy and this film, Open City, presents the struggle of the Italian resistance against the Fascists and Nazis. I will review the films narrative qualities, and then I will review the film for formalistic, stylistic qualities.

            The film takes place in Rome, shortly before the American led liberation. Open City is divided into two parts. The first part introduces all of the characters and ends with Fascists and Nazis storming the apartment building. The second begins with Manfredi and Francesco on the run. It ends with the execution of the Priest.

            The narrative starts out tense. There is always the foreboding of doom about to happen to the characters in the film. From the outset we see the secret police tracking down Manfredi who has various aliases and is a political operative for the Italian resistance. Through him the narrative begins. The audience also follows the story of a couple to be married the next day from when the action takes place. Soon Manfredi shows up to Francesco’s apartment and meets his fiancé. Eventually, a priest is summoned and brought into the action. Crosscutting is used throughout the film to connect all of the characters to the plot. I don’t know exactly what is meant by neo-realist, but the film is shot in black and white, the characters are emotional and aware of life. Especially the two women characters; Francesco’s wife and the traitor who turns in Manfredi. Francesco’s wife is portrayed as an honest woman who is not well off, but is looking forward to marrying Francesco. It is her murder at the end of the first part that is, perhaps, the most astounding scene. She runs after Francesco only to be gunned down by the Nazis.

            Manfredi’s girlfriend, on the other hand, is the epitome of traitor. She is a drug addict, materialistic, not hard working, and, in the end, she betrays Manfredi and the Priest which occurs in the second part. The major action of the second part surrounds the torture of Manfredi and the execution of the Priest. Throughout the film the Nazis are portrayed as barbarians; committing acts of shocking behavior. The Nazis cruelly torture Manfredi and, at the end of the film, at the execution of the Priest, a Nazi shoots the Priest in the end in an act of utter barbarity.

            The movie has not traditional archetypes of Cinema. The heroes are the resistance fighters. The Fascists and Nazis are evil. The Priest is good. The audience is well aware that Italy will be liberated. But, we are reminded of the human cost of the resistance by this film, of the brutal violence used to enforce the rule of the Nazis and Fascists.

            The stylistic elements of the film are simple. The film was made in the 1940s immediately after the end of WWII, so with whatever resources Rossellini had, he made the film. It uses rhythmic editing throughout. There is a tense, somber musical score that keeps building tension and reminds us what it was like to live under constant terror. There are some camera angles that are revealing; an aerial shot showing the police arrive to search the apartment building where Francesco lives, a from the ground shot of the Priest walking. Yet, in my opinion, even though I’m no expert on film styles or aesthetics, this film is shot in a barebones manner, revealing reality as is.

            Open City is praised by critics as one of the landmarks of Italian Cinema. In Martin Scorsese My Voyage to Italy, he proclaims the film as one of the best neo-realist films. He goes on to say that Rossellini couldn’t live up to the reputation that Open City gave him in his subsequent film productions. I would agree with what Scorsese says about Open City. The shot where Francesco’s wife goes running through the street after him is a scene of shock, anguish, and pain. The audience feels the devastation that the Fascists and Nazis have brought upon Rome and its people.