NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Rome, Open City

Rome, Open City (Italian: Roma, Città Aperta) is a 1945 Italian film, directed by Roberto Rossellini. Image File history File links Open_City_DVD.jpgâ€Ž Summary from http://www. ... Roberto Rossellini (May 8, 1906 - June 3, 1977), was an Italian film director. ... Sergio Amidei (1904 - 1981) was one of the premiere screenwriters in post-WWII Italy and was an important figure in the development of the Italian neorealist movement. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Sergio Amidei (1904 - 1981) was one of the premiere screenwriters in post-WWII Italy and was an important figure in the development of the Italian neorealist movement. ... Aldo Fabrizi ( Rome, november 1, 1905 - Rome, April 2, 1990 ) was a famous Italian actor and Italian director of theatre and film. ... Anna Magnani (March 7, 1908 - September 26, 1973) was an Academy Award-winning Italian actress, with stage experience. ... Marcello Pagliero (born January 15, 1907, London; died October 18, 1980, Paris) was an Italian film director, actor, and screenwriter. ... September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945and died 2007 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Year 1945and died 2007 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... Roberto Rossellini (May 8, 1906 - June 3, 1977), was an Italian film director. ...

The picture stars Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani, and others, and is set in Rome during the Nazi occupation in 1944. Aldo Fabrizi ( Rome, november 1, 1905 - Rome, April 2, 1990 ) was a famous Italian actor and Italian director of theatre and film. ... Anna Magnani (March 7, 1908 - September 26, 1973) was an Academy Award-winning Italian actress, with stage experience. ... Nickname: Motto: SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC Government - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area - City 1,285 kmÂ² (580 sq mi) - Urban 5... National Socialism redirects here. ...

Plot

As Nazi soldiers march around town, Giorgio Manfredi eludes them by jumping around roofs.

A priest, Don Pietro Pellegrini, helps the resistance transmit messages and money. Don Pietro is scheduled to officiate Pina's wedding. Francesco, her betrothed, is not very religious, but would rather be married by a nationalist priest than a fascist official.

Her son, Marcello, and his friends have a small role in the resistance. Pina's sister befriends Marina, Giorgio's former girlfriend, who betrays the resistance in exchange for drugs, fur coats, and other creature comforts.

The Gestapo commander in the city, with the help of the Italian police commissioner, captures Giorgio and the priest, and interrogates Giorgio violently.

They attempt to use Pietro's religious beliefs to convince him to betray his cause, citing that he allies himself with Atheists. Pietro responds that anyone who strives to help others is on that path of God whether they believe in Him or not. They then force Pietro to watch as Giorgio is tortured to death. When Don Pietro still refuses to crack, he is executed.

Production

In August of 1944, just two months after the Allies had forced the Germans to evacuate Rome, Rossellini, Federico Fellini, and Sergio Amidei began working on the script for the film. The devastation that was the result of the war surrounded them as they wrote the script. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Sergio Amidei (1904 - 1981) was one of the premiere screenwriters in post-WWII Italy and was an important figure in the development of the Italian neorealist movement. ...

Shooting for the film began in January of 1945. The only two professional actors in the cast were Aldo Fabrizi and Anna Magnani. Anna Magnani (March 7, 1908 - September 26, 1973) was an Academy Award-winning Italian actress, with stage experience. ...

Four interior sets were constructed for the most important locations of the film.

Rossellini relied on traditional devices of melodrama, such as identification of the film's central characters and a clear distinction between good and evil characters.

Legend has it that the actual film stock was put together out of many different disparate bits, giving the film its iconic documentary or newsreel style. But, when the Cineteca Nazionale restored the print in 1995, "the original negative consisted of just three different types of film: Ferrania C6 for all the outdoor scenes and the more sensitive Agfa Super Pan and Agfa Ultra Rapid for the interiors." The previously inexplicable changes in image brightness and consistency are now blamed on "poor processing (variable development times, insufficient agitation in the developing bath and insufficient fixing).^[1] Agfa was a company which produced a range of photographic products including films, photographic papers and cameras. ...

Exhibition

The film opened in Italy on September 27, in 1945, with the war damage to Rome not yet repaired. A motion picture rating system categorizes films with regard to suitability for children and/or adults in terms of issues such as sex, violence and profanity. ... British Board of Film Classification logo The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), originally British Board of Film Censors, is the organisation responsible for film and some video game classification and censorship within the United Kingdom. ... The MPAA film rating system is a system used in the United States and territories and instituted by the Motion Picture Association of America to rate a movie based on its content. ... September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945and died 2007 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ...

The United States premiere followed on February 25, 1946 in New York. The American release was censored, resulting in a cut of about 15 minutes. February 25 is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... NY redirects here. ...

The film was banned in several countries. An example is West Germany which banned the picture from 1951-1960.

In Argentina, the movie was inexplicably withdrawn in 1947 following an anonymous government order.^[2]

Cast

Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Anna Magnani (March 7, 1908 - September 26, 1973) was an Academy Award-winning Italian actress, with stage experience. ... Aldo Fabrizi ( Rome, november 1, 1905 - Rome, April 2, 1990 ) was a famous Italian actor and Italian director of theatre and film. ... Anna Magnani (March 7, 1908 - September 26, 1973) was an Academy Award-winning Italian actress, with stage experience. ... Marcello Pagliero (born January 15, 1907, London; died October 18, 1980, Paris) was an Italian film director, actor, and screenwriter. ...

Critical response

Since early on, this film has been considered a quintessential example of neorealism in film, so much so that together with Paisà and Germania anno zero it is called Rossellini's "Neorealist Trilogy." Robert Burgoyne called it "the perfect exemplar of this mode of cinematic creation [neorealism] whose established critical definition was given by André Bazin."^[3] For neorealism in international relations, see neorealism. ... AndrÃ© Bazin on the cover of the third volume of the original edition of Quest-ce que le cinÃ©ma? AndrÃ© Bazin (April 18, 1918 â€“ November 11, 1958) was a renowned and influential French film critic and film theorist. ...

Bosley Crowther, writing for The New York Times, gave the film a positive review. He said, "Yet the total effect of the picture is a sense of real experience, achieved as much by the performance as by the writing and direction. The outstanding performance is that of Aldo Fabrizi as the priest, who embraces with dignity and humanity a most demanding part. Marcello Pagliero is excellent too, as the resistance leader, and Anna Magnani brings humility and sincerity to the role of the woman who is killed. The remaining cast is unqualifiedly fine, with the exception of Harry Feist in the role of the German commander. His elegant arrogance is a bit too vicious—but that may be easily understood."^[4] Bosley Crowther (July 13, 1905 â€“ March 7, 1981) was an American film critic. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. ...

Awards

Nominations Cannes Film Festival logo. ... The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was founded in 1909 in New York City, just 13 years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor George McClennans revocation of moving-picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908. ... New York Film Critics Circle Awards are given annually to honor excellence in cinema worldwide by an organization of film reviewers from New York City-based publications. ...

The 20th Academy Awards spread awards around, with no film receiving more than 3 awards, the last time this would happen until the 78th Academy Awards. ...

References

The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... December 7 is the 341st day (342nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ...

External links

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Cinema of Italy

Films by year • 1905–1939 • 1940s • 1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s
List of actors • List of actresses • Actors • Directors • Films A-Z • Cinematographers • Editors • Producers • Score composers • Screenwriters Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is a cable television channel featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and Warner Bros. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The history of Italian cinema began just a few months after the LumiÃ¨re brothers had discovered the medium, when Pope Leo XIII was filmed for a few seconds in the act of blessing the camera. ... The following is a list of Italian movies, in chronological order: 1905 La presa di Roma (Filoteo Alberini) 1913 Quo vadis? (Enrico Guazzoni) 1914 Cabiria (Giovanni Pastrone) 1915 Assunta Spina (Gustavo Serena) 1929 Rotaie (Mario Camerini) Sole (Alessandro Blasetti) 1932 Gli uomini che mascalzoni! (Mario Camerini) 1940 Unavventura di... This is a complete list of male actors from Italy, which generally means those who reside in Italy or those who have appeared largely in Italy film productions. ... This is an incomplete list of actresses from Italy. ...

Contents

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