Roberto Rossellini’s 1945 film Open City was undeniably a remarkable achievement, coming as it did at the close of the great war in a time of horrific shortages throughout devastated Italy. There was no money for frivolous activities like filmmaking. All the resources and energy of the Italian people needed to be harnessed to the rebuilding effort. Rossellini understood, however, the exceptional power of cinema to serve as a rallying force for the flagging spirits of the Italian people.

Historical Background: Roberto Rossellini (1906-1977) was born on May 8th, 1906, in Rome, Italy. His father was a wealthy architect and Roberto and his siblings were raised mostly by nannies. Roberto’s father built the first cinema in Rome, which provided Roberto with unlimited free access to cinema as he was growing up. The Rossellini family lived on the same street as Mussolini’s first Roman hotel and Roberto developed a close friendship with Vittorio Mussolini, son of Il Duce. When Mussolini ascended to power in Italy, Vittorio was put in charge of cinema, which provided Rossellini with a friend in high places. During his early years, Rossellini contributed articles to the film magazine Cinema and, in 1934, began working in the film industry, gaining experience with virtually every aspect of filmmaking, from screenwriting, to editing, to sound-making and dubbing.

In 1938, he made his first film, an amateur production entitled Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un faune, but it was banned by the Fascist censors. Later that year, Rossellini got his first official film credit working on the film Luciano Serra, Pilota, which was directed by Goffredo Alessandrini and produced by Vittorio Mussolini. Rossellini was the chief screenwriter and directed a few segments. In 1940, he was assistant director on Uomini sul Fondo, directed by Francesco De Robertis

As World War II erupted, Rossellini found himself working for the government-controlled film industry and during the early 1940’s, directed his first three films, all propaganda pieces for the Fascist government. His first was The White Ship (1941). It began as a documentary project, but Rossellini ultimately interwove a fictional element, employing amateur actors. These characteristics were to become hallmarks of the future Neo-realism: the mixing of documentary and fictional elements and use of nonprofessional performers. Rossellini completed his so-called Fascist trilogy with A Pilot Returns (1942) and The Man of the Cross (1943). It was through these films that Rossellini established two important friendships, with writer/director Federico Fellini and actor Aldo Fabrizi.

Even before the liberation of Rome in 1943, Rossellini had begun shooting footage of the Nazi-occupation and the activities of the Italian resistance for later use for his own purposes. That purpose became evident in 1945, when he combined skills with Fellini (who wrote the script) and Fabrizi (who played the part of the priest) to create arguably his most landmark work, Roma, Citta Aperta, which later became Open City for its release in America. Although Luchino Visconti may have produced the first film consistent with the precepts of Neo-realism with Ossessione in 1942, it was Rossellini who brought international recognition to the concept with his Neo-realistic trilogy, relating to the aftermath of World War II in Italy and Germany. Open City relied on hand held cameras, semi-documentary or pseudo-documentary style, and use of mostly non-professional actors. Although Open City was initially poorly received in Italy itself, it was very popular in France and America. In order to get the film to America, Rossellini sold a copy to an American soldier for a token payment. The soldier then sold it to Joseph Bustyn. Open City played for two solid years in New York City. Neo-realism became all the rage in cinema and the influence of Open City was evident on an entire generation of filmmakers. No matter that Neo-realism was less an artistic ideal than a practical necessity. “Neo-realism was the natural way in Italy in 1945. There was no possibility of anything else,” Fellini was to say later. Rossellini completed the Neo-realistic trilogy with Paisan in 1946 and Germany, Year Zero in 1947.

Although Rossellini’s name continued to be spoken reverentially for decades to come in cinematic circles, he never again achieved as much as a director as he had with his Neo-realistic trilogy. In 1947, he directed a fine film entitled L'Amore as a vehicle for Anna Magnani, who was his lover at the time and the star of Open City. In 1948, he began an affair with Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman that became an international scandal. Both were married to other people at the time and each had children with their spouses, but nevertheless proceeded to have children together. They also teamed up on six films, of which Stromboli (1949) is the only one considered better than mediocre. Though he and Bergman ultimately married one another, Rossellini continued to have affairs with other women while simultaneously refusing to allow Bergman to even work with another director! Not surprisingly, their marriage collapsed, in 1956. Rossellini’s last semi-successful film was General della Rovere, made in 1959, which was something of a rehashing of the themes from his successful Neo-realistic era. After that, Rossellini turned almost exclusively to work in television, producing mostly educational pieces of modest quality, with the one exception of The Rise of Louis XIV (1967), which was comparable in quality to the best of his earlier work.

The Story: Giorgio Manfredi (Marcello Pagliero), a thirty-seven year old Italian Communist who had previously fought against Franco in Spain, has been betrayed by an informant as a leader of the Italian resistance in Rome and has to flee his apartment when Nazi agents are spotted in the street outside the building. He makes his way to the apartment of Francesco (Francesco Grandjacquet), a sympathizer and printer who aids the resistance in its money transfer activities. Francesco is out, but his fiancée, Pina (Anna Magnani), who lives in the adjacent apartment, lets Giorgio in, once she is confident he is not a Nazi spy. Pina, a widow and pregnant with Francesco’s child, lives in poverty with an extended family, including her son, Marcello (Vito Annichiarico), and her sister, Laurette (Carla Rovere). Pina and Francesco plan to be married the next day by the local priest, Don Pietro Pellegrini (Aldo Fabrizi). Laurette is an aspiring actress and ashamed of her poor family. Little Marcello, who is perhaps ten or so, hangs out with a gang of street urchins who, under the direction of a crippled boy named Romoletto, engage in acts of sabotage against Nazi facilities.

Giorgio was supposed to meet a courier at the Tiburtino Bridge at 6 PM to deliver money to support a resistance unit of 500 men holed up in the mountains near Tagliacozzo, but now that he has been betrayed, it will be too dangerous for him to be outside after the curfew that begins at 5 PM. Pina sends Marcello to fetch Don Pietro, who, as a priest, is permitted to walk the street after curfew. Don Pietro agrees to deliver the money as required, which is hidden in three books.

Meanwhile, the Gestapo, led by the vicious Major Bergmann (Harry Feist), and aided by the Italian Police Commissioner (Carlo Sindici), have identified their target, Giorgio, as Luigi Ferrari, born in 1906, arrested in 1928 and sentenced to twelve years in prison, but escaped in 1934, whereupon he fought in Spain for the Communists. They also have discovered that Giorgio’s ex-lover is Marina Mari (Maria Michi), an actress with a taste for fine clothes and expensive furnishings and a friend of Laurette. They send their ace female agent, Ingrid (Giovanna Galletti), to bribe Marina for information about where Giorgio might be found.

SPOILERS AHEAD. SKIP TO THEMES SECTION TO AVOID.

Giorgio manages once again to elude a Gestapo raid, this time on the household where Francesco and Pina live, but Francesco is loaded into a paddy wagon with a lot of other Italian men who are being taken in for questioning. Pino, dismayed at her fiancé’s arrest, chases after the paddy wagon, screaming, and is gunned down, killing her instantly. The paddy wagon joins a procession of similar vehicles and a jeep escort, but resistance fighters are waiting to intercept the caravan. During the ensuing shootout, the men who had been arrested, including Francesco, escape.

Giorgio, needing a place to hide out for both himself and Francesco, makes the unfortunate choice of his ex-lover’s place, not realizing that she is the informant. Marina lets them stay the night, but overhears their plans to meet up with Don Pietro at his church. Gestapo agents arrive at the church at the appointed time, nabbing Giorgio, Don Pietro, and a hapless Austrian deserter (Akos Tolnay). Francesco, who was lagging behind the others, manages to walk away unnoticed. The three captives are whisked off to Gestapo headquarters.

In a brutal conclusion, the cowardly Austrian soldier hangs himself rather than face Nazi torture. Giorgio is tortured relentlessly but suffers the horrors heroically, managing not to divulge any information that would damage the movement. Don Pietro is forced to hear and watch the torture from an adjacent room and performs last rites when his atheistic collaborator finally expires. In the morning, Don Pietro is executed while Marcello and his fellow Italian street urchins look on from behind a fence, whistling in defiance.

Themes: Though entertaining, this film was clearly intended to serve mainly a political agenda. It is propaganda of a sort, aimed at rehabilitating both the self-image of the Italian people and their image around the world, especially among the victorious Allies. That Rossellini had experience with making propaganda films is undeniable. He simply turned from Fascist-sponsored propaganda to pro-Italian propaganda.

Among every nationality of people, there are heroes and scoundrels and all sorts in between. The prestige of the Italian people had taken a beating internationally during World War II both from their alliance with Germany and their poor record of success in battle during the war. There were many among the public in allied countries who viewed the Italians collectively as opportunistically switching sides as the fortunes of war changed. The reality, of course, is that the Italian people were never of one mind. Many supported Fascism and many others opposed it, just as today in America, many support the War in Iraq and many other oppose it. As the Allies began to gain control of the war effort, the Italian resistance fighters, who had always opposed Fascism, were able to assert themselves with greater effectiveness and their numbers swelled with the addition of Italians who had straddled the fence out of caution.

The foremost point of Open City is to give recognition to the brave members of the Italian resistance and the men, women, and children who provided them with support, often times at the cost of their lives. The nobility of these people is in no way diminished by the fact that some other Italians supported the cowardly and corrupt agenda of the Fascists. Open City was Rossellini’s plea to the world not to condemn Italians collectively for the sins of some. It was also a plea to the Italian people themselves to hold their heads high in recognition of the courage of those who resisted Fascism, even as they condemned the scoundrels who had promoted it. This film is a reminder that stereotyping an entire people based on the behavior of some is unfair, especially to those who heroically opposed the Fascist agenda. It is especially noteworthy that Catholics, Communists, Socialists, and Social Democrats joined together in resistance to Fascism, in effect forsaking some of their former lines of division. Open City thus tells the story of courageous defiance on the part of ordinary people. Rossellini’s hope was that his film would help rejuvenate the spirit of the Italian people as they set out to rebuild their country. In Francesco’s words, “We must believe it, we must want it. We mustn’t be afraid because we are on the just path. We’re fighting for something that must come. It may be long, it may be difficult, but there’ll be a better world.”

So far, I am with Rossellini altogether. Unfortunately, there are some aspects of Open City, that undermine the validity of the intended message. For a film that’s main message is a plea to avoid stereotyping Italians as Fascists or opportunists, this film engages in all too much stereotyping of its own. First, the Nazis are presented mainly as caricatures – cartoon style Nazis. This is most evident in the case of Major Bergmann, but in lesser degree with his various henchmen, both at Gestapo headquarters and in the field. I’m fully prepared to assume that Germans participating in the occupation of Italy (i.e., Nazi soldiers) do not represent a cross-section of the German people, and I therefore don’t argue that Rossellini’s one dimensional characterization of the Nazis is a stereotype directed at the German people in general. The problem is that the exaggerated stereotyping of the Nazis seems to imply that people capable of atrocities are readily identifiable by the extremity of their overt behavior. They’ll all appear “Nazi-like.” The reality is that many Nazis who conducted evil business looked and acted very much like ordinary people. Contrast the way that Rossellini presents the Nazis with the one character in the film whom we can assume to be a Fascist – the Police Commissioner. He wears an ordinary civilian business suit and behaves pretty much like any good businessman might. The film’s suggestion is that while Nazis were deranged monsters, Fascists were simply functionaries going about their business.

Even more offensive, however, is that the two wickedest characters in the film – Major Bergmann and Ingrid – are implied homosexuals. Bergmann uses stereotypically gay mannerisms when dismissing his subordinates, for example. In one scene, Ingrid seems to be coming on to Marina Mari and in another she seems to enjoy dominating her. By contrast, the film is at no little pains to illustrate that the Italians are almost all good family people. Pina, for example, is a model of motherhood with her son and apologizes to the priest, Don Pietro, for being pregnant and not yet married (understandably difficult to schedule a wedding during wartime). Giorgio is such an up-right family-oriented gentleman that he has discontinued his relationship with the lovely Marina expressly because she appears to be more interested in sex than love and commitment. So, the message we are left with is the good people are Italian and family-oriented while bad people are homosexual, German, and deviant. I don’t mean to imply that a Nazi is made worse by also being a homosexual. Quite the contrary! It is homosexuals who are injured by Rossellini’s stereotyping. Viewers might be more inclined to listen to Rossellini’s plea not to stereotype Italians collectively as Fascists were he not at the same time attaching negative stereotypes to homosexuality.

Near the end of the film, Major Bergmann is asked what it would mean if Giorgio cannot be made to talk under torture. The evil Major replies, “Then it would mean an Italian is worth as much as a German! It would mean there’s no difference in the blood of a slave-race and a master-race! And no reason for this war!” Considering how badly Rossellini has depicted the Germans in this film, I’m not sure what value there is to an Italian to be worth as much!

Production Values: The brilliant script for Open City was co-written by Sergio Amidei and a then little known cartoonist named Frederico Fellini. The story was based in part on the real-life story of the Roman priest Don Morosi, who was publicly executed. That story was combined with another based in reality as well. The resultant combined narrative resulted in numerous characters and a somewhat convoluted storyline, rather than the simple, straight forward stories that became the hallmark of subsequent films in the Neo-realistic style. Nevertheless, the abundance of characters served this particular film well by ensuring that the subject matter could be generalized to the collective Italian people and the spirit of the nation. Amazingly, the script of this film manages to tell a story in which most of the principal good characters die violently while still leaving viewers filled with a basic sense of hope and optimism, because of the spirit and determination still evident in those left behind.

The script is nicely balanced with some delicate touches of humor. The best such moment is when Don Pietro is visiting a shop and encounters a marble statue of a nude woman facing another one of a priest. He turns the statue of the nude woman away from the priest’s gaze, but then, noticing that the woman is as voluptuous behind as in front, he turns the statue of the priest so his gaze rests in another direction. Another example of comic relief occurs when Don Pietro returns to the rectory carrying the money for the resistance fighters hidden in books. Seeing the Sexton cooking, he complains that he had told him not to cook in the rectory, especially cabbage! Sexton Agostino replies that he’d rather be cooking chicken. “We’ve no food and you buy books!”

The gritty, newsreel-like quality of Open City was what most made it revolutionary and the engine of the Neo-realist movement. Rossellini helped draw filmmaking out of its mainly studio setting into the streets. His entire budget for the film was $20,000 and he had to make do with whatever film stock we could squirrel together. The quality of the cinematography was understandably uneven. Many scenes are dark because Rossellini’s crew had to make do with available light and possibly brown-outs as well. The technical shortcomings of Open City are part of its charm and truth, however. If not an outright enhancement of the subject matter, it is at least no impediment. The Image DVD was mastered from a pristine 35 mm archive print, so the flaws that are evident can be assumed to be limitations during shooting.

Rossellini could afford only two professionals to anchor his cast: his good friend Aldo Fabrizi as Don Pietro Pellegrini and a then little known cabaret performer Anna Magnani, as Pina. Magnani turned out to be the clear standout of the film and the part launched a career that saw her become one of the most renowned actresses in Italy. She had the kind of earthy beauty that Italian women seem to epitomize. Some of her top roles were in L'Amore (1948), Renoir’s The Golden Coach (1952), Rose Tattoo (1955), which earned her an Oscar, and Mamma Roma (1962). Fabrizi was also highly effective. His previous experience has been mostly in comedy. Open City provided him only a few opportunities to demonstrate his fine comedic touch, otherwise demanding that he stretch himself into an essentially dramatic role. He later appeared in The Flowers of St. Francis (1950).

Bottom-Line: Open City is high drama made all the more poignant by its timeliness and realism. This film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes as well as the New York Film Critics Circle Award. It is a film that will always have tremendous power to enthrall because of the circumstances under which it was made. Open City is in Italian with optional English subtitles (on my Image DVD). One minor irritation is that some incidental dialog is not translated into subtitles. The running time is 105 minutes.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older