esrosedotblog

RESISTANCE

Todays NYTimes Best 1176 Film was Roberto Rossellini's

Roma, città aperta / Open City (1945)

This film was made before the War was over, during the German occupation.

They stole vehicles and signed up regular people to film it.

It is like a docu-drama.

Neo-realism. Gut wrenching.

I have seen this several times. I still cry at the end.

It is beautifully done and we get to see the earliest Anna Magnagni who became a super star, a pioneer in post-war Italian cinema.

Some of the scenes can be seen as trite today but they are not. Subsequent films in the last 50 years have stolen all of Rosellinni's stuff.

I have seen this before and could easily see it again when I feel like it.

That makes it a 5 out of Netflix5.

The disc I saw is the newest Criterion restoration. It is extraordinary.

Labels: best films